Powerless
by cause.A.scene
Summary: Another darn kidnapping story. Greg centered.. read and review if ya can. K so, its done now. Thanks to everyone who has stayed with it and didn't send ciberknives at me for taking so long to update.
1. Chapter 1

**I know I know.. Another one. Why can't I just finish one?!?! Well, this one I know I will actually enjoy writing all the time because as you can see, it's pretty fast pace and I like to write action and angst so.. It will hopefully be a pretty good long one that will hopefully be enjoyable. So I hope you enjoy!

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The night had been surprisingly decent, unlike most of the previous nights. The case was a no-brainer in Greg's opinion. It was the whole "cheating wife hacked by a jealous husband" case that Greg had seen many times in his few years of being a CSI. No crazy twists or weird suspects; just a breeze. And that was no problem. Sure, Greg enjoyed an interesting case here and there, but not 5 cases like that in a row.

Greg glided down the hallway to the layout room. He still had about two hours before shift ended, so he figured he would rest for a minute and then see if anyone needed an extra hand to help their day pass quicker.

He sat on the couch reading a magazine for a little while, got some needed coffee, and then made his way to the restroom. He had now wasted twenty minutes, and after his pit-stop would go check on everyone else.

He was washing his hands when someone walked up beside him. Greg nodded politely towards the stranger and continued washing his hands. The man also washed his hands, though he didn't seem to be paying much attention because only a small portion of his hands were actually under the water. Greg then noticed that the man was looking at him quite often.

Greg got a paper towel, dried his hands, then turned off the facet. He was about to leave when the man tapped him on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry sir, but would you mind telling me where the lab is?"

The man looked simply disheveled. He was a little taller than Greg, but much wider. He wasn't fat though, and it wasn't all muscle either; stalky was probably the best way to describe him.

"Which lab?"

The man kind of looked around nervously.

"Oh, I'm not real sure. She jus said 'go to the lab', I don't remember her saying which one."

He laughed nervously and looked back up at Greg.

"I'm sorry about this. Just have a lot going on right now."

Greg suddenly felt very sorry for the man, but he also wondered who would send this man to any of the labs.

"It's no problem, but who told you to come here in the first place?"

"Oh, um some lady in the front of the building. Um, yeah you uh, you work here?"

Greg wondered where this was going, but answered all the same.

"Yes sir, I do. Why don't I walk you back up the main desk and will go from there?"

Greg started towards the bathroom door, but the man grabbed his wrist and pulled him back. Greg spun around and faced the man with a very confused look painted on his face.

But confusion quickly turned into slight fear as the man he was now looking at looked completely different. His eyes had gone wild, beads of sweat were beginning to appear on his forehead and his breathing was much more rapid.

"Are you a CSI?" The man asked with piercing eyes that screamed hate.

Greg wasn't really sure how he answered, but he must have nodded his head ever-so-slightly, apparently enough for the man standing before him.

The man reached inside his coat and pulled out a handgun and suddenly became very in control of the situation despite his previous behavior.

"That's real good," a snarled through tightly clenched teeth. He pulled Greg deeper into the restroom, into a dark corner and brought the gun level with his eyes forcing Greg to flatten himself against the wall.

"Now, I want you to listen to me real good. I am going to take you out of this building, and to a place that you will be staying at until I either get what I want, or I don't, in which case you will be killed. I am going to put the gun back into my coat in a moment's time and we will causally walk out of here, you in front and we'll be on our way. If you try anything, anything at all, I will shoot you."

He moved his gun closer to Greg, who could now feel the cold tip of the weapon on his forehead.

"And if you try to let anyone know what is going on, I will shoot them, then you. Would you like to know why I would do that?"

Greg kept his gaze at the floor, and choose not to answer what he was hoping was a rhetorical question.

But the man continued to wait for a reply, and when it never came, he continued.

"I'll let it slip this time, but from now on kid, when I ask you a question you had better answer it."

Greg felt a wave of relief that the man let his mistake go, but suddenly felt scared again.

"I will shoot the other person because," he paused and got right in Greg's face, "I know it would hurt you more."

Greg let this sink in and knew right away that the man was a hundred percent correct on that.

"Alright boy, you know the rules, act like nothing is any different."

Greg wondered how the hell he would manage that when he knew he was being kidnapped. But there wasn't any time to dwell over it anymore. He felt the man push him forward and saw him put the gun back into his coat along with his hand that stayed positioned on the gun, ready for anything.

Greg did his best to pull himself together as the bathroom door opened revealing a few people walking to their own destinations, completely oblivious as to what was going on here.

Greg felt as through he had been pushed onto a stage in front of hundreds of people with a horrible case of stage fright. But the crazy man with the gun pushed him out into the hall and Greg did the best he could.

They weren't too far from the exit, but everything seemed to go in slow motion to Greg. This could possibly be his only chance to get help. He looked at the people passing him by, some of them he had seen for over seven years, but none of them noticed what was going on. And Greg didn't dare try to tell them.

He finally decided that the chance of him getting help was little to nothing without getting someone shot. He hung his head slightly and stepped through the door and over the threshold and knew right then and there that he was walking into a nightmare.

As he was ushered into an SUV under a small tree in the back of the parking lot, he began to think about Nick. He wondered if this was how Nick felt when he was kidnapped. Greg figured it was something like this, and knew it was something completely different when Nick realized he was buried alive.

Greg grimaced at the thought.

He was now in the very back of the SUV with roped tied tightly around his wrists and ankles. He had lost track of where the man was and it was freaking him out. If the man was about to do something, Greg would like to see it coming.

He suddenly felt something cold being pressed against his face, covering his mouth and nose.

He knew right away what it was and surprisingly he didn't panic. Instead, he made lousy attempts to push the man away, all the while holding his breath. When his lungs were desperately begging for air and he simply could not deprive them any longer he pretended to pass out, sliding down the seat and landing with his eyes closed. The man took the cloth away from Greg's face, much to his pleasure. He finally filled his lungs with air as normally as he could, though it was still pretty loud. But the man didn't seem to notice and was already in the front seat of the car and pulling out of the parking lot.

Greg lied on the seat feeling slightly dizzy. He had breathed in a small amount of the chloroform and was feeling some effects but was ultimately able to stay awake.

The windows of the SUV were tinted but he could still see the colorful signs of the Vegas Strip. Not well, but it was better than nothing. He tried to visualize where he was simply by the quick glimpses of the things he saw. It wasn't working too well but it was good enough.

He had been so wrapped up in knowing where he was that he had forgotten about his kidnapper. But Greg's attention was refocused to the mad when he heard a cell phone being dialed.

"Ben? Yeah, its Don, I got 'em… No, it's some kid, can't be much older than twenty something."

Greg secretly felt good about the man's comment because Greg was actually 31.

"Yeah, he's a little guy but he's still got muscles. Could potentially be a handful but we can handle him."

Don laughed loudly and maliciously.

"Oh yeah, he's probably the little one of the group. Once they see some pictures and videos, they'll be eating out of our hands."

Greg's heart stopped. His fears had been confirmed. This guy, or apparently _guys _were not only going to torture him, but they were going to make the team see it all. His stomach did summersaults as he remembered watching Nick in the coffin. He remembered how it tore them all to pieces as Nick struggled and had such pain and fear covering his face.

Greg didn't want his friends to have to see anything like that again. He told himself that he would do his very best to look as normal as he could when the pictures and videos were made. He knew he was only joking with himself because it was obvious that these men were going to inflict tons of pain on him and the chances of him looking even remotely decent were slim. But he would try none the less.

"Right. We ain't too far now. Kay, later."

Greg heard Don put the cell phone down but didn't think too much about it because he was still lost in his own thoughts.

But then he remembered something; his own cell phone. Of course, he didn't want to try anything now because it hadn't been long sense Don tried to put Greg out so it would be obvious that Greg faked it which would give probable cause to a double beating for faking it and the cell phone. So he decided to wait is out and hoped that wherever when they got to wherever they were going, Greg would be left alone long enough to get some help.

As if he had voiced his thoughts at loud for the world to hear, the SUV erupted in Greg's ring tone "I Feel Like Making Love".

Greg completely froze, unsure of whether to answer it, or to stay asleep.

But the decision was made for him when Don rapidly pulled off the side of the road and threw his arm to the back seat where Greg laid pretending to be unconscious. Don snatched up the phone.

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**I know, not very good, but to be honest with you, I am in a cabin on a cruise in the Caribbean right now and it happens to be my last night on the ship so its very sad. I'm not exactly sure what that has to do with anything, but isn't it amazing (and sad) that I'm writing on a cruise ship? Oh, and sorry for the same 'ol kidnapping story. But I will try to make it good even though it has been done many times before. If you are sick of them, sorry… don't read. Haha, well I am and I am also very tired right now so comment if you can or want to or whatever and the next one will be up soon (hopefully.)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Whoa! Got this one out pretty early! Yay for me! Or actually, yay for ya'll because the comments make me want to write more because I know that there are actually people wanting the next one out. Don't get me wrong, I know that ones that don't comment probably want an update soon, but when you ask for an update soon, it pressures me to get one out. Which is a good thing for ya'll. But either way I'll continue to update, as long as people read it, I'm happy. **

**Anyways.. Here it is. It's long, but I'll warn you ahead of time, may be some errors and its unfortunately not very action-packed. But I had to get this one out before getting to the good stuff. I was actually planning on getting to the good stuff in this one, but it ended up being too long, oddly enough. Well, now I'm blabbering. Go read!! Enjoy!

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Grissom had first thought that he had gotten the wrong phone number when he heard a deep harsh voice, knowing it was not Greg's but decided to make sure.

"_Hello," _the voice on the other end barked.

Grissom hesitated for a moment, momentarily confused.

"Hello," Grissom answered, "Who's this?"

"_None of your business. Who are you?"_

Grissom was slightly taken aback by the rudeness, and wanted to hang up or tell the man of, but because it was against his nature, and because he wanted to see if he had the wrong number, or worse, had the right one, he continued talking to the man as politely as possible.

"I must have the wrong phone number, I'm Gil Grissom from the Crime Lab and I was trying to reach Greg Sanders."

He heard the man chuckle on the other line, sending a quick cold chill down his spine, but it left quickly as he reasoned with himself.

"_The Crime Lab, eh? Nope, you have the right number._"

Grissom didn't know what to think at first, but he was sure he could hear a sense of pride and taunting in the man's response. He finally realized what the man was saying and knew he needed to find out more.

"And where is Greg?" Grissom asked as calmly as he could.

He heard another chilling laugh then, "_Well, to be perfectly honest with you he's tied up in the backseat. Now as much as I would love to continue chatting with you, I think it would be in my own best interest to hang up before you track the call. But don't worry, we'll be in contact._"

Before Grissom could say anything at all, he heard a click, signifying the man had hung up.

Grissom stood there in his office, shocked. He left the phone to his ear a few moments after the conversation ended, just thinking. After pulling himself together, he thought of the last thing he could think of that would ensure Greg's safety. He went to his recent outgoing calls, just to make sure he didn't get call the wrong number and for some reason the other person decided to play a nasty joke. He checked and rechecked the number, confirming that is was in fact Greg's phone he had just called.

The CSI in Grissom finally made itself present within Grissom and right away Grissom headed the AV Lab to see if there was anyway to track Greg's phone or if nothing else, listen to the tape of the man's voice and see if there was anything they could get from it.

As he entered the lab, he saw Sara and Catherine standing over Archie observing as his fingers flew across the keyboard. They looked up at Grissom who came hurrying in. They watched as he put a cell phone, his cell phone, on the table in front of Archie, who looked up at Grissom confused.

"I need to see if there is any way to track the last outgoing call, and then get the tape of the conversation."

Archie continued to look at Grissom, but it was Catherine who spoke up.

"Grissom, we're running a rape investigation here. Is there anyway this can wait?"

Grissom looked her straight in the face and solemnly said "No, this is top priority."

He turned around and began to walk out, realizing he hadn't told them what was going on. He wondered if it was for the best to keep it quiet for a little longer, but that option was cancelled as he heard his name being yelled by Catherine. He turned around and again looked her in the eyes.

Catherine knew something was up, but if Grissom had the right to interrupt their investigation for his, then she sure as hell had the right to know what was so urgent about it.

"Grissom, what the hell was that?"

Grissom just stared back at her, debating whether or not to break the news to her. Just then, Sara appeared behind Catherine, looking as equally curious but less upset than Catherine.

Grissom knew then it was probably best to let them know as they could help him try to get some information and help with the investigation to get Greg back sooner. He exhaled slowly before answering their questioning looks.

"There's reason to believe that Greg has been kidnapped."

Right away their faces faded into looks of confusion and fear. Sara spoke up immediately.

"Wait, what? Kidnapped?!"

"Quiet, Sara. Now is not the time to announce it. But yes. I tired calling him minutes ago and someone else answered and said that he had Greg."

"Well, are you sure? I mean isn't it possible that.."

Grissom cut Catherine off, "It was definitely his phone and when I asked where Greg was, he said Greg…" he didn't want to give them the exact words he received, "was with him."

Grissom paused for only a moment, allowing the information to be taken in to the women's minds before continuing.

"Now, when was the last time either of you saw him?"

Grissom watched as both of them exchanged looks and then thought about their answer.

Sara spoke up suddenly.

"I saw him. It was.. Only about an hour or two ago. He was walking out of the building I think."

Grissom thought about her statement.

"Well then he should have about had an hour and a half remaining on his shift, why was he leaving?"

Sara and Catherine thought for a minute.

"Oh, he finished his case. Maybe he didn't see a point in hanging around with nothing to do."

This was possible, but it wasn't exactly allowed to leave that early before your shift ended, although many people did it. However, Grissom had always seen Greg help out on other cases if he had nothing else to do, or at least hang around in the layout room before leaving, never did he notice him just take off. Then again, it wasn't that often that anyone had any extra time after a case. But it was still possible.

To help answer this question, Grissom immediately headed for the outside parking lot, closely followed by Catherine and Sara. He scoped the cars for Greg's Denali, and when he saw it sitting over in a corner, he knew that Greg had been taken sometime before he left the lab.

Then he must have been kidnapped in the parking lot, Grissom thought to himself, thinking that if it had happened in the building, someone would have noticed. He turned suddenly to Sara.

"Did you notice anyone with him?" Grissom asked urgently.

"Grissom, it was the main hall. There.. there were a lot of people walking close to others.." Realizing that this answer was not going over so well with Grissom, she added "No one, no one stood out," she finally got out, feeling somewhat useless. She might have been the last one to see him, but couldn't help at all.

Grissom sighed again, but felt much better as he remembered the cameras.

"Well, aren't there cameras in the halls?"

Grissom almost laughed at the thought of him and Catherine thinking the same once again. He nodded and all three of them rushed back inside and headed for the cameras.

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It had been at least an hour since the conversation on the cell. Greg replayed it in his mind, trying to guess who it was. He was going over the possibilities of each one calling. There was more than likely Grissom or Nick, a good chance it was Sara, and Catherine and Warrick hardly ever called him at all. Out of the top two possibilities, he hoped it was Grissom. He didn't want Nick to be the first one to find out. Nick had always been Greg's closest friend at the lab, and knowing Nick, he would get very upset. He knew that they all would, but especially Nick because he is a very protective and caring person. Grissom, on the other hand, would probably be the best to hold himself together and get the investigation going, and would therefore give Greg a better chance at making it through all this.

Greg sighed, wishing he could be with his friends.

They had been on a dirt road for a while now and Greg could feel the vehicle slowing down, then making a sharp turn, as if pulling into a driveway. Greg fought the urge to look at where they were, which proved to be a very good decision because once the SUV stopped, he heard Don swing his door open, then immediately opened the backseat door. Greg's stomach tightened, scared of what was about to happen.

Nothing happened for a moment or two, which was making Greg absolutely crazy. He began to wonder if it would have been best to allow the chlorophyll knock him out earlier.

Then suddenly, he felt ice cold water wash over his face. It felt like shock waves being sent through his body. He lifted his head and coughed out some of the water that had went in his nose and mouth.

It was very dark outside, no lights other than the moon and stars. However, he could see the outline of Don, staring down on him.

Don reached into the car, grabbed Greg under the arms and wrenched him out of the car. Greg could do nothing to stop himself from falling, as both his arms and legs were tired. However, he did try and managed to land hard on his left elbow. He immediately felt pain soar through his arm. He was not granted time to catch his breath, instead, he was once again grabbed under his arms and hoisted to his feet. Greg hadn't realized that Don was such a strong man. The thought scared Greg.

Don pushed Greg forward and stuck his gun into Greg's back.

"Walk," he ordered.

Greg hesitated, wondering what he should do. He knew he should listen to the man, but because his feet were tied, it was virtually impossible to walk. So instead, he stood their, debating whether or not to say something about his predicament to Don. But Greg was apparently taking too long.

"What the hell is taking you so long? I said _walk!_"

Once again, Greg was shoved. Only this time, much hard. Unable to use his feet and arms to maintain balance, he flew forward, his face landing in dirt filling his mouth with it.

"Get up you worthless piece of shit."

Greg spit out the dirt as best he could and decided to say something this time.

"My feet are tied. I, I can't really walk," he said helplessly.

Suddenly, Greg felt Don's foot come in contact with his ribs, once again shooting pain throughout him.

"Did I _ask _for excuses? No. I _told _you to walk." He kicked Greg once more.

Greg was in pain, and at a loss. He had no idea what this man was expecting him to accomplish with his hands and feet bounded. But he figured he would at least get back up on his feet.

He slowly brought his arms closer to his chest, propped himself on his elbows, which was very painful after his spill out of the truck, then pushed himself up so that he was on his hands and knees. From there got up as best he could, the whole time, his ribs protested.

He was now standing again, but was back to square one.

He knew the only thing he could do was hop, though that was the last thing he wanted to do. But the gun had found its way back to his back. He heard Don laugh then say coolly:

"Hmm, I guess you may have to find another way to make it your new home."

This was the first time Greg actually noticed his surroundings. Though it was extremely dark, he saw an outline of a rather larger house. It actually wasn't too far from where he was standing.

Greg was reminded that he needed to do something by the gun being pushed further into his back.

He took a deep breath, then began to hop to the door.

He felt ridiculous hopping in front of the man that was kidnapping him. He soon felt the gun ease away from his back, but knew that Don was still close by because Greg could hear him laughing.

Finally, Greg made it to the front door and caught his breath as he waited for Don to open it.

"What? You expect me to open it?"

Greg looked at Don in pure disbelief. There was no way he was going to open a door. Then, to his relief, he saw Don laugh once more.

"You're pathetic."

The words poked at Greg, raising his anger. He felt the gun again be replaced to it's normal spot. Greg half expected he was going to be hopping more until he felt Don's foot collide with his back, once more sending him to the hardwood floors in the house.

Greg laid on his stomach, trying to catch his breath. Soon, Don appeared over him, and roughly rolled Greg onto his back. Don then preceded to grab Greg's bounded hands and pull. Greg's arms screamed in protest, but to no prevail. Greg was literally being dragged through the house.

Luckily, his destination was not far from the front door.

Don relinquished Greg's hands, letting them fall to the floor. Greg remained on his back as Don walked past him and closed a door. Don then came back to Greg. He put both hands in his pockets and each one emerged with a different weapon; his right hand held his gun firmly, the left held a pocket knife. Greg felt the fear grow inside of him.

Greg prepared for the worst, but instead of placing the knife anywhere unwanted, Greg watched Don cut the ropes keeping Greg's legs tied, then moved to his hands. Once he was done, he moved over Greg so that Greg could see his eyes. He held the gun in Greg's face.

"You try anything, I'll shoot you right here," he warned.

Greg felt way too vulnerable lying on his back, so he slowly sat up, doing his best to make no sudden movements.

Don began to move away from Greg, but still had the gun pointed at his head. Greg watched as Don moved to the door, opened it, then left. Greg heard several locks being locked on the other side of the door. When he heard footsteps leading away from the door, Greg could finally breath normally again.

The feeling didn't last long as the pitch black room began to scare him. He was never afraid of the dark, but giving the circumstances, he wanted to be able to see.

From what he could tell, there was only one door, and nothing else. He figured there wouldn't be a window anyway.

Right away Greg began to wonder about food and water, and a blanket as he realized that it was really cold. For lack of anything else to do, Greg got up, and slowly moved around the room, keeping his arms out in front of him at all times. He finally felt a cool, sold surface on his hands, and after feeling around a little more, decided it was in fact a wall. He turned his back to it, and slid down the wall.

He didn't want to explore the room in case there was something in there that could be harmful. Instead, he felt the floor on the sides of him, making sure nothing was there, then lowered himself to the ground.

He realized just how tired he was as he laid on the cold floor. He knew he should probably stay awake, but his body wouldn't allow it. He fought against it, and thought that given tonight's events, he should be too nervous to sleep. But he wasn't. Slowly, his body took control and Greg's eye lids fluttered a few times before finally closing.

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**Hmm… oddly long for me to be describing so little. Sorry it wasn't real actiony, but the next one will be and it will also explain everything a bit more. I guess every now and then you have chapters like this that are needed, but kind of boring. Well, because I got this one out before the weekend, I think you can expect to have the next one out sometime this weekend, but no promises.. Thanks for reading. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Wow! I got two out in one week. Both were pretty long too. I'm pretty proud of myself! Lol, anyways, this one is a bit more interesting and I think you all will like it more that the last one because.. well, just read. **

**Thanks to everyone who commented! I really appreciate it!**

**Also, read the note at the end... at least th last sentence cuz you may want to participate in it. And anonymous people can comment too so.. yeah.**

**Enjoy**

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The cameras in the hallway had come up with nothing. First of all, there was something wrong with the lens and it only showed half of what it was supposed to. Then, as Sara mentioned before, there were so many people in the hall that when they did get a glimpse of Greg, no one stuck out. Grissom had figured they wouldn't get anything out of them anyway, but wanted to rule out everything. He still thought whatever had happened, happened in the parking lot, and since the cameras outside were completely broken, they had no chance.

Grissom shook his head in disgust at the thought of a _crime lab _not having fully functional cameras. Either way, they still needed information so Grissom went on to his next plan, which involved the rest of the team.

He turned back to Sara and Catherine, who were looking sick with worry and gave them there orders, in a firm, steady voice.

"This is an investigation and I know it will be hard, but we cannot damage it with our own personal emotions. Now Sara, I want you to get Warrick and Nick in here, tell them what's going on," Sara nodded then left. Grissom turned to Catherine. "Catherine, we are going to see if there is anything at all in the parking lot that can help," Grissom sighed. "As of now, that's all we can do. I don't want to leave the building because the kidnapper says he will be in touch with us."

Catherine nodded slowly and then followed Grissom out of the lab.

* * *

He was happily on his couch and had been that way for a good part of the day. He lounged and watched some MASH re-runs, laughing at the good, simple comedy that tv once provided. He laid there, eating his cereal and enjoying the relaxation. Just as Hawkeye Trapper were about to play a joke on Frank, the phone rang.

Nick got off his couch, and walked over to the kitchen where the nearest phone was.

"Hello?"

Nick rolled his eyes as another recording started to play, offering him a free cruise if he pressed number 3. He hung up the phone, and put up his cereal bowl. He took a quick glance at the day's newspaper, which he surprisingly still got, and looked only at the front page which featured an article on some rapist/murderer dying in prison. Being from the strict state of Texas, part of him thought 'about time'.

He was heading out of the kitchen, this time for a shower, when the phone rang again. He stopped, and returned to it, figuring it was just another recording.

"Hello?"

"Nick? Hey, its Sara."

He was surprised that Sara was calling him, but was even more surprised, or rather worried, at her tone of voice.

"Hey Sara, what's up?"

There was a short silence, making Nick worry a little more.

"Well.. We think that.. Greg.."

Nick's heart quickened knowing that something bad was about to follow.

"He's been kidnapped, Nick," she finally got out, apparently on the verge of tears.

Nick, on the other hand, stood in quiet disbelief. His mind raced with the words, not wanting to accept it. Thoughts of his own kidnapping filtered it's way into his brain, which made him sick. Not at _him_ being in that situation, but knowing that Greg was going to be possibly in a similar situation. He knew that even f Greg wasn't buried alive, the kidnapper could be capable of something just as bad, if not worse.

"Nick? Look, it apparently happened not too long ago and Grissom wants the entire team here to help out with it," Sara's desperate words threw Nick from his stream of thoughts and immediately pulled himself together as well as he could.

"I'll be there in a minute."

Nick threw the phone at the receiver, not caring if it was hung up or not, then practically ran to his room to throw on some clothes. He did all of this without thinking about what he was doing, his mind solely on Greg. His young friend that he had known for over 7 years. The same one that he had watched grow from an immature lab rat to a much more mature CSI. And the thing that Nick respected most about Greg, was that he never completely lost his sense of humor, though it had eased away some. Nick knew it was because of the change Greg experienced from the lab to the field, because lately, he had seen some of Greg's humor slipping back into Greg.

Nick mentally kicked himself, wondering why he wasn't there when this happened? Maybe if he was there, Greg might still be safe.

Once all of his clothes were on, he raced out of the door and to his car. He was now on his way back the lab, where he knew he would not be greeted with Greg's smiling hyperactive face.

* * *

He wasn't sure how long he had been out, but when he woke up, things were much different. The most noticeable being light. There were a total of two lamps now showering the room with light, making t possible to actually _see _what all was in his room.

As he scanned the room with tired eyes, he began to wonder if it would have been better to leave the lights off. The room looked nothing short of a torture chamber. There were at least four different sets of handcuffs throughout the room, some more horrifying then others because of their locations. Greg looked helplessly up at one particular pair that was hanging from the ceiling and whoever was occupying those handcuffs would also be hanging from the ceiling. Then there was a full body set on one wall, complete with bounds for the wrists, ankles, waist, and neck, all of them plastered to the wall, forcing the occupier to stand. Lastly, there was a table near the corner of the room, which also had bounds. Greg didn't even want to think about this one, for he knew that some terrible things could happen here, and what scared him most was the thought that if he was on this table, he would be on the vulnerable position of lying on his back.

Other than the bounds, he noticed knifes and sword looking objects and chairs that had ropes ready at the side to tie down whoever sat in the chair.

There were other things across the room, like hammers and nails, and bottles and needles, all of which made Greg's stomach ache.

But the thing that sickened him the most were the cameras located in various parts of the room, giving a complete view of every inch of the room. He knew that those were either for his kidnappers to watch him, or to send to the lab, or possibly both.

Greg threw his head back and went to rub his face with his hands, but couldn't. It was then he noticed that he was also in bounds, and sitting up.

Instead, he just closed his eyes, secretly wishing it was all a dream and in a moment, he would wake up in his own room. Or even wake up on the couch in the layout room. That would actually be better.

But when he opened his eyes, he was only greeted with the same terrifying room.

He sat alone in silence, thinking about everything, and nothing. About a recent case, about his family and friends, about surfing and hiking, about who answered the phone the previous night. His thoughts meandered through so many different thoughts, that Greg didn't even try to focus on one thing.

Greg was thrown from his thoughts when he heard the locks on the other side of the door being clicked open he guessed, and then saw the door swing open. Emerging from the doorway was Don, closely followed by another man, who Greg guessed was Ben, the other man Don had been talking to on the phone the night before.

They moved slowly through the room, sporting evil smirks and never taking their eyes off Greg. But he didn't want to look at them. He let his eyes fall to his feet stretched out in front of him.

"To afraid to even look at us, huh Greggy?" Greg recognized the voice as Don's.

He didn't respond, just kept looking at his feet. Don then came directly in front of Greg's bounded feet and squatted so that he was eye level with Greg.

"That's very sad, Gregory. Look at me." He said firmly.

But Greg didn't want to. He knew exactly what was coming, but didn't really care at the moment.

As expected, he was hit. This time was a punch to the stomach, sending the air from Greg's lungs.

He scrunched up his face in pain and tried to recover his breath before he heard Don repeat his command. Greg was actually considering looking up this time, but apparently didn't do it fast enough as a hand came out of no where and latched around his neck, slamming his head against the wall.

Greg gasped for air that his lungs were begging for. His eyes were now locked with Don's who said with gritted teeth "You'll do whatever the hell I tell you to do."

He left his tight grip on Greg's neck for too long. Greg knew it wouldn't be long now before his body gave up. Blackness began to fill his vision and Greg was sure that this was it. Suddenly, the hand was removed and the needed air refilled his lungs within his raspy gasps. He sat there coughing and gasping for air, temporarily forgetting about his kidnappers.

When he had pulled himself together enough to think reasonably clearer, he looked up at them. He saw Don, who looked fierce, and Ben who Greg thought he could see worry on the younger man's face. Ben had to be about Greg's age but was much wider and muscular. Still, his face held some worry as he kept his eyes on Greg.

Don, who was now standing beside Ben, reached down and grabbed the camera that was hanging from his neck. He pointed it at Greg, who immediately remembered what he was thinking about in the car the other night. He gathered as much strength as possible to look as normal as he could. Or, at least, he didn't portray the pain he was feeling as the picture was taken. He knew that whoever got the picture would probably see the strangulation marks on his neck, but all the other injuries he had received from Don were not visible, so it wouldn't look too bad in the picture. The thought made Greg feel a little better.

Don took the camera away from his eye, and looked at Greg suspiciously, but didn't say anything about it.

"Alright Greg. As I'm sure you have guessed already, I am trying to get something from your CSI friends. And I'm also sure that you've seen at least one kidnapping case similar to this before, possibly from that other CSI who was kidnapped a year or two back, where I will be sending them pictures and videos of how you are doing." He moved to Greg's side and again squatted. "Hopefully, it won't go too far, but I'm willing." He smiled a sick smile and ruffled Greg's hair.

"And he," he stood up and walked over to Ben, "is also going to be helping me out here."

Don came back to Greg. But this time sat beside him, back against the wall.

"Right now, I think I might call your CSI friends and let them know what's going on. I think that would be the polite thing to do, as I'm sure they are squirming with worry."

Don pulled out a very cheap looking cell phone that Greg knew was one of those disposable phones that could not be traced. Greg hung his head knowing that that possibility was now blown out of the water. But this opened new doors. Now, Don didn't have to rush his conversation. He looked back over at Don who already the phone to his ear. Greg's stomach tightened in fear, hoping that his friends didn't have to hear anything bad.

"Aw hello, Mr. Grissom? Great. Its very nice to speak with again." He paused, then laughed. "Yes, yes. Gregory is right here beside me actually… Well, of course you can speak with him," Don said politely. "But of course I am going to want something in return for all this," Don paused and his tone and expression changed drastically. "Is that so? Well I'm sure you will regret that decision with time." Greg knew what was coming. Don stood up, grabbed something from on top of the table, which was a bat, and walked back over to Greg. All the while holding the phone.

Don lifted the bat above his head, then brought it down hard and fast, it colliding with Greg's shoulder. But Greg was ready for it, and was able to suppress the cry of pain that threatened to escape. Through his tightly clenched eyes, Greg heard Don talking.

"Oh Gregory, how very noble of you not wanting your friends to hear your pain. But unfortunately, I _want _them to hear it." Don walked away with the bat, and came back with a knife.

"Let's see if you can handle this one."

Don lowered himself to Greg's level and took the knife and cut Greg's shirt and ripped it off.

"Wow, you have some pretty nasty bruises here," Don retorted loudly with proud in his voice.He then motioned for Ben to come and hold the phone close to Greg.

Don brought the knife to Greg's skin and pressed hard enough to break skin. Greg didn't so much as make a sound.

"Not enough? Alright then."

Instead of pushing the knife in deeper, as Greg thought would happen, the knife began to slide across his chest, leaving a path of blood in it's wake. As it went on, Greg could feel Don pushing it in deeper and deeper. It hurt so bad. Greg tried so very hard not to make a sound, but when Don etched the knife over his lower stomach, then pressed much too deep, Greg finally cried out in pain.

He mentally slapped himself for not being strong enough.

"Aw there we go. I wasn't expecting to get this far so early in the game. Oh well." He brought the phone back up to his ear.

"Thinking about reconsidering? Well if you still aren't sure, I'm going to give you some more time. But we'll stay in touch. And you may even get to _see _dear Gregory. Goodbye Mr. Grissom."

Don threw the phone aside and Greg felt himself relax a little, but the pain that was pulsating through his body, especially in his stomach, kept him focused on the pain. He was so out of it, that he didn't notice the camera pointed at him, recording him fighting the pain.

* * *

Back at the lab, five CSI's silently cried or felt like crying after the disgusting phone call they had just received.

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**Ok, so i don't know how many of you have seen MASH, but I love it. Anyways, it wasn't _filled _with action, but it's getting there. You can start seeing how Don and Ben are and can guess how things may go. Besides, I think that making a whole bunch of really bad things happen so early in the story isn't a good idea because I think in the long run it will be best to build up to the major stuff. Cuz if you hurt him too bad early on, then you have to get him out soon before he dies, and that can make for a rushed story. So, I'm doing the best I can. Also, as you know, I'm _considering _bringing in another CSI. Havn't decided yet, but I figure if you guys have someone you want to come in with him, just mention it if you comment. That doesn't mean that I will add whichever CSI gets the most votes, but it will help knowing who the readers want. And if you want no one to be added, say so. Anyways, thanks for reading.**

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	4. Chapter 4

**Praise me for getting this out, because I should be doing homework. But I am determined to get a chapter out at least once a week so here.. Hope you like it.**

**About the other character: I have made my decision, and you will not know what it is for a few more chapters I don't think.. So.. Just to let you know that some of you will be happy about it, some of you will not. Either way.. Here's the next chapter!! **

**Disclaimer: Don't own nothing except for Ben and Don.**

**Oh, and because I did not have enough time to properly make sure all typing errors were correct, there may be a few. I did scan it though. I figured you guys would prefer a few mistakes over not getting the chapter for a few extra days… Tell me if I'm wrong please.

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Grissom lowered his head while he leaned on the table. On that table, sat the phone that had ensured them that Greg was in a very bad situation. Up until that point, they had hoped that maybe Greg's kidnappers weren't very violent, as they had seen in rare occasions, but the phone call told them otherwise.

The conversation kept playing through everyone's mind, what the man had said, and then the unmistakable cry of pain issued from Greg. The sound would no doubt haunt them until they found Greg, possibly longer if they didn't find him alive. But everyone pushed that out of their mind, because as of now, he was alive and by the sound of the kidnapper, he would remain that way.

Though, there was also no doubt that the kidnapper would not hesitate to use violence, so finding Greg as soon as possibly was vital.

Nick stood quietly over in a corner while everyone else started to speak, offering their opinion on what the next step should be. Nick, didn't want to speak. In fact, he almost felt that he couldn't even open his mouth without getting sick. So, he just stayed to himself, thinking about Greg and how they were going to get him back.

"Well, someone should get on Greg's file to make sure there's no one that looks like they would have a grudge against Greg," Grissom stopped and sighed deeply, "Though I'm sure this is another one against the lab in general."

The words "_another one" _rang through everyone's mind, reminding them immediately of the last time they went through this, and their gaze slowly shifted to Nick, who was still standing quietly in his corner.

Nick didn't look any of them in the eye. He didn't know who had it worse, him, who had been kidnapped himself and the very idea of someone he cared about being kidnapped and going through what he went through, or them, who already had to watch someone they cared about suffer. He didn't really care though, because either way, they all had one goal, no matter how much this situation was hurting them individually.

They gave him a worried look, but continued on the situation at hand.

"Then, get this tape to Archie. See if there is anything there, and check on the last tape I gave him." Grissom rubbed his eyes, already sensing how difficult this was going to be for the team.

"The important thing is that we stay strong and do as much as we can, but until we get more evidence, it may start off unbearably slow. Stay with it and just.. Just do what you can.""

Everyone soaked Grissom's words in, knowing he was right. Only a minute later, they all left in search of some way to feel productive, but most importantly to keep their minds busy on something other than what Greg was going through.

* * *

It had been long enough after Don's attack on him that Greg had regained control of himself, and had managed to control the pain as well. He wasn't sure how, but figured it was all mental. Of course, he was still drenched in pain, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it was, and he thought it was because he kept thinking of his friends. Once he discovered that he was being filmed, he found a way to look as decent as possible.

Greg laughed a the thought now, after Don and Ben had left and he was alone again. Here he was, his shirt completely ripped off, bruises and cuts covering his stomach and blood dripping all over. Then there was the fact that his shoulder was on fire. He was fairly certain that his collar bone was broken, or at least cracked.

_But now, _he thought to himself, _the team has something to go on. _

It did make him feel better to know that they were working together to find him. Of course, he had only heard Grissom's name mentioned thus far, but as he remembered how the entire team came together when Nick was kidnapped, he felt certain that they were all here for him too.

The thought filled him with hope, which he knew was what he needed.

Greg laid his head against the cold wall behind him, and allowed himself to relax as much as possible. Which proved to be not so good, because as he felt his body relax, more pain came filing in, but he didn't care; he knew his body needed rest if he expected it to put up with all that it was more than likely going to have to endure.

Just as he felt his eyes drooping, the door to his chamber opened. He expected to be looking up at Don again, but was instead greeted by Ben's face. Greg could not be sure that this was a better alternative, but judging from Ben's reaction's to the early events, Greg had a feeling Ben was much more lenient than Don.

Greg looked at Ben through his half-opened eye lids, but Ben avoided his gaze. Another sign that Ben was not as harsh as Don, Greg thought happily to himself. He knew very early on that he would need to start looking for weaknesses in his kidnappers, but because he had primarily been around Don, he hadn't been coming with much at all.

Ben was holding something and was heading for the table across from Greg. The same table that had held the bat used to break his collar bone. He continued to watch Ben, who never looked anywhere near Greg.

Finally, Ben laid whatever he was holding on the table, and then slowly moved over to Greg, who prepared for the worse, though positive nothing too bad was coming.

Ben, without looking at Greg, got to his knees before Greg. Then, slowly Ben brought his eyes up to Greg.

Greg looked straight at Ben, surprised. He had noticed just how Ben looked earlier, but now he could see that Ben had to be in his late twenties, and didn't look at all violent. In his eyes, Greg saw fear and.. Pain.

Greg continued to watch Ben, who was now reaching into his pocket. Greg didn't really think about it at first because he was so busy pondering Ben, but suddenly felt a twinge of fear knowing that whatever was in Ben's pocket could be very bad news for him.

Luckily, Ben's hand, now out of his pocket, help white cloth and a bottle. Greg felt his breathing neutralize some.

Ben slowly turned the bottle over on top of the cloth, then brought it shakily up to Greg's torso. Greg hissed with pain as the alcohol came in contact with his cuts, but couldn't help but feel thankful for it, knowing that it needed to be done. And of course, he didn't expect anything like this from one of his kidnappers.

Ben continued to clean up Greg's injuries, wincing every time Greg flinched or made any noise that signified that it was hurting. He knew that Ben was doing his best to seem tough and act like this was nothing, but Greg knew otherwise.

Once he was done, Ben took the bloody pieces of cloth and place them in a bag. He packed up his supplies, then headed back to the table. Greg figured that he was about to leave, knowing that Ben was not at all comfortable around Greg, but instead, Ben turned around from the table, holding a tray.

"You uh, you hungry," he asked in a shaky voice.

Greg watched him for a moment, shocked again at this turn of events, but nodded eventually.

It hadn't occurred to him until now just how hungry he was. But as he thought about it, it had been well over 24 hours since he last ate.

Ben walked to Greg and again kneeled in front of him. The smell of the food floated to Greg who felt his mouth start to water like mad. He was _really _hungry. Ben sat in front of Greg, still holding the tray, but looking befuddled. He gaze went from Greg's face, to his bounded hands, wondering the same thing Greg was: how was he going to eat it without the use of his hands?

"How?… Well, what am I.. I can't feed…" Ben's eyes continued to dart from Greg's eyes to his hands.

"Well, why don't ask Do… the other guy," Greg corrected himself, realizing that the only reason he knew their names was because he was pretending to be unconscious while Don was talking to Ben on the phone.

Ben must have noticed, but Greg wasn't sure. However, when Ben stood up and left the room, Greg froze, sure he was going to be punished for knowing Don's name.

From another room, Greg heard Don yell "Of course you're not going to hand-feed him, you idiot child!"

Then, without warning, Don came flying around the corner and into Greg's room, closely followed by a very distraught looking Ben. Don rushed over to Greg, holding something in his hand. He stepped over the tray of food then reached for Greg's right hand.

Greg had no idea what to expect. He prepared for the worse, but was again relieved as he felt the bound on his right wrist fall off of him. Don then furiously stood up and looked down at Greg, who didn't dare move his newly freed hand with Don standing in front of him looking that mad.

"You better be happy you getting anything at all, boy," he sneered through clenched teeth, "You mess this in anyway, you'll feel it, and then you won't get anymore food, you got it?!"

Greg nodded his head nervously.

Don turned to Ben in one quick, fast movement.

"Now do not bother me again unless it is something important. You know I'm busy…" Don turned back to Greg, showing off a twisted grin. "Getting the package ready to send to your little friends. Of course, we have a little more filing to do before I actually send it off. So eat up, Gregory, you're going to need your strength."

With that, Don turned and walked out of the room, leaving a very nervous Greg, and a very nervous Ben.

Greg had lost most of his appetite at that point, but figured Don was right. He had no idea when he would be given the opportunity to eat again, and knowing that he was more than likely going to be going through a lot soon, knew that he needed to give his body as much as he could.

Greg took his free hand, and reached out for the tray. He tried his best to reach it, but it was just barely out of his grasp. On his last attempt to reach it, which was failing just as miserably as the previous attempts, and was also hurting him considerably, noticed that Ben was now coming towards him, and actually pushed the tray into Greg's outstretched fingers.

With the tray now in Greg's hand, he looked up at Ben. Ben's eyes were connected with Greg's, and showed large amounts of pain, and fear. Greg began to think about Ben again, wondering what was with this kid. But Ben turned away, and walked out of the room.

Greg sat there, thinking about Ben more before bringing the tray to his lap and slowly pushing the food into his mouth.

Why was Ben so different? He was definitely young, and didn't seem like a very violent person. Then there's all the pain in his eyes. And pain. Why pain? Then it hit Greg; Maybe Ben was also kidnapped by Don! Of course, he would have been convinced to behave because of all the rights Don gave him. Still, it didn't make much sense to Greg. Even if Ben was abnormally well-behaved for a kidnapped person, Don did not seem dumb enough to leave him here alone while he kidnapped Greg.

Greg could have thought it all out while shoveling food in his mouth for the whole day, but was not given the opportunity when Don came around the corner again, holding a camera.

Greg felt his stomach flip and his head ache, knowing exactly what was about to happen.

* * *

She slammed her hand on the desk hard. She couldn't think of anything else to do. She saw Catherine look over her shoulder with a motherly look, but she didn't acknowledge it. This whole case was proving to be many roads with dead-ends. Sara knew what Grissom had said about it being slow until they got more evidence, but this was much too frustrating.

Greg was somewhere out there, in pain and God only knew what else, and there was nothing anyone could until the kidnappers decided to give them more hints that Greg was being tortured for some stupid reason that no one knew of.

Sara slammed her hand on the desk again, then flung her head into her hands. This time however, Catherine got up and placed a hand on her back.

"We'll get him back," she said quietly. "I mean, it's Greg we're talking about. He.. You just can't picture him gone forever."

The words weren't that sentimental or in anyway comforting, but Sara found that they still helped. Catherine was right, she had seen Greg for so many years now, smiling and making stupid jokes. It was just impossible that anyone could get rid of such an amazing person.

Sara brought her head back up, feeling better. She smiled sadly up at Catherine and continued going through Greg's file which showed nothing out of the ordinary. Not surprising, Sara thought to herself, who would have anything against Greg?

Of course, Nick had been attacked twice by people who had no reason at all to attack to him personally.

Sara sighed and kept looking until the phone interrupted her thoughts. Sara and Catherine both looked at each other, not knowing what to expect.

Catherine got up slowly, and walked over the phone.

"Hello," she said cautiously, Sara listening intently.

Catherine's face immediately changed, and Sara knew it wasn't the kidnapper.

"Alright, I'll be there in just a minute."

Catherine hung up the phone then turned to Sara.

"They just got a package up front without a return address," she said gravely.

They both dashed out of the door and to the front desk where a few cops were standing by a scared looking man. On the desk sat a medium sized brown box.

"How did it get here," Catherine asked as she slid her hands into gloves.

Judy, the desk lady, pointed over to the man being held by the police. Sara moved to him.

"Where did you get the package?"

The man immediately chimed in.

"This morning, I went to get the newspaper and I saw this. I don't know why, though. I never got any of the Crime Lab's main before. I figured whatever it was might be important if it was being sent to you guys so I thought I would bring it up here personally," he choked out, sounding flustered.

"Look, I don't know how it got there or anything, I swear. I'll answer whatever questions if you need them.."

"Yes, sir. That will be necessary for our investigation. Take him to Brass' office. Thank you for you cooperation sir."

Sara was sure the man was telling the truth. It was actually a very good way to get a package to the crime lab without any camera's or paper trails. Sara felt the worry multiply as she knew that the kidnappers were very smart. She want over to Catherine who was now opening the package. Catherine reached into the box and pulled out a DVD that had "Dear Gregory" written across it.

Catherine and Sara exchanged looks, then took the box and DVD back to the lab. They found the others and told them what happen.

"Ok, so I take it you found nothing?" Grissom asked Catherine who shook her head.

"Ok, well take the box back to Jackie and see if she can get any prints, then Hodges," he paused then in a different tone of voice continued, "I'm sure you all can guess what this probably is. If you don't want to see it, then stay out the AV Lab. Everyone else, follow me."

He started off towards the lab, followed by the entire team. None of them sure they wanted to see the DVD, but found themselves shakily walking behind Grissom anyway. Memories of Nick screaming and fighting in his box filled their minds, but this time, it wasn't live. Not sure if that was a good thing or not, they decided to figure it out after they saw the DVD.

Grissom put it in, and everyone sat in silence as Greg, hands and legs bound, cuts and bruised covering his bare chest and face. He sat still, looking down at his knees. Then, a figure, completely covered by dark clothing, face hidden behind a ski mask came into the screen holding a gun and a knife.

The team watched in horror as the man walk up beside Greg and the team found themselves having to look away from the screen as the man continuously beat Greg, bringing in different tools to help him mutilate Greg more. Until finally, the gun was brought back out…

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**Hahaha! Wow, I feel unbelievably evil right now! I hope this will keep you all happy for a little while because I probably won't be able to get the next one out until at least next weekend. Honestly, I shouldn't have been able to do it because I have mid-terms for the next two weeks. So please be patient. Anyways, comment if you can, and by the way, I do plan on letting you all know what was on the tape but I couldn't do it today that story was getting much too long, and I know you all don't like that. Oh, and doesn't Ben just sound like a good thing for Greg?! Hehe. Ok, buh-bye!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Alrighty. It took a little longer than I had expected, but here it is: **

**um, I don't own anything and.. I think you guys will like this one. Not real sure but I hope you will anyway. I think was one of my favorites to right. Not sure entirely on this either, but it definitely comes close. So.. enjoy!**

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Greg sat motionless on the cold floor, in total fear. Don wore an evilly twisted smile as he set up the camera and began to pull on dark clothing and eventually a ski mask, letting Greg know that Don was not going to do anything to him from a distance, but was fine with being on the camera as well. His stomach tightened at the thought.

He shot glances from Don to Ben. Ben was looking right back at Greg, looking slightly nauseous. Greg didn't think about Ben this time though, he was much to preoccupied with watching Don as he finished covering himself and then proceeded towards the table once more. He grabbed a few things from off of it, though Greg couldn't make out what they were.

Don headed back for the camera and was about to press a button when Ben made a swift move to the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Don screamed after him.

Ben stopped dead in the doorway, then turned around. His face was oddly constructed; he was frowning and biting his lips.

"I.. I don't want to.. I don't want to watch this." His tone got much more serious and a twinge of anger made itself present.

This was good insight into Ben's character, but it was also unwanted insight into Don's as well. Obviously, Ben knew that Don was going to be particularly malicious with Greg and it was enough to make him want to leave as it happened.

The anxiety was too much to handle. Of course, Greg didn't want to get beat or hurt or anything, but sitting there, wondering and _waiting. _It was just way too much.

"Why?! You made friends with him, did you? Look, I know this is all a bit.. But it doesn't matter. It has to be done! Or we will never feel closure! Or does she mean nothing to you?!?" Don screamed at the top of his lungs. His stiff stance showed what his covered face did not: pure anger.

Ben, who seemed to have lost his confidence, lingered in the doorway mumbling, and finally made his way back in the room, but hid in the shadows that lingered in the back of the room. Don watched him for a moment but then turned back to the camera and pressed a button that made a small red circle light up.

And so it began.

Don picked something up, and as he got closer to Greg, the item was identified as a whip. He was standing in front of Greg now, raised the whip over his head, then slung it down. A loud _crack! _filled the room and pain shot through Greg's body as the leather strips made contact with his chest. He didn't even have time to recover before the next one came down on him again, this time more centered on his arm.

More followed. Greg lost count after five; the pain clouded his mind and blurred his vision. He became dizzy, but felt the continuous straps colliding with him. He could hear himself making noises, sometimes just a quick in-take of breath, a hiss, or a flat-out cry. But all of it was distant as he had lost control of his reactions.

Suddenly, the sharp blows stopped, and all that was left was the throbbing of the welts produced by the whip. Greg let his chin fall onto his chest as he tried to hold onto consciousness. He was sucking in air as though he had been deprived of it for days. He could hear Don laughing, but he didn't care. He was doing all he could to control the pain, but it wasn't working in the least.

After a moment or two, he brought his head back up and saw Don standing on the right side of the camera. He had an obnoxious stance that screamed pride. Greg thought he looked like an artist admiring his masterpiece. The thought was sickening.

Don eventually bent down and picked up something else. Again, he walked into the camera's field of view and Greg decided not to look at him. Out of no-where, he felt one of the worse feelings ever.

It felt like electricity running through him. His body jolted against it's restraints, his eyes rolled in his head, and his mouth stayed painfully clenched. When the it all stopped, he discovered that it _was _electricity that had just been forced through him. His limbs fell completely limp, his arms dangling from his cuffed wrists.

He felt something cool run down his face. He wasn't sure if it was sweat, blood, or tears but he didn't care. All of them were reasonable given the situation.

He had to endure one more electric shock before Don became bored with that toy. Then came a whole segment of just Don's hands and legs colliding with different parts of Greg. After about five to ten minutes of that, he then left again and came back with a gun. The same gun that had been pointed at him many times since his arrival. Only this time, Greg saw something that made his heart sink. A silencer.

However, he was too dizzy to really worry over this. In fact, a small part of him even welcomed it. It made a very good point by saying that he wouldn't want to live through many more torture sessions like this. If he was shot dead, then he wouldn't have to worry about any of this anymore. But a more pronounced and stronger voice told him that he was simply not allowed to think like that. He needed to hold on for as long as he could. Of course, it didn't really matter at all how he thought since his fate was entirely based on Don and the weapon that was being pointed at Greg's chest.

Greg kept his head half-way up, not able to bring it up completely. He stared at Don's dark eyes, watching for some sort of sign in them. But when he didn't do anything, Greg changed his focus to Ben instead. He was now standing, still in the back of the room. He so tightly wedged in a corner looking miserable, that Greg found himself wondering if he had also been a victim of Don's violence.

His focus was brought back to Don as he came to Greg, still pointing the gun at him. He turned towards the camera with his gun-hand stretched out towards Greg, the barrel only inches from his skin. Don raised his free hand and did a quick signal with it. Greg then saw Ben emerge from his corner and walk to the camera as though he was being condemned to death.

Don turned back to the camera, and began to speak:

"I thought you might like to see Gregory," the man on the screen said in a disgustingly pleasant voice. "He's really a sweet kid. It's a shame he has to go through this, we do what we have to, right? Oh anyways, Greg, would you like to say anything to your friends?"

Greg did nothing to suggest he had acknowledged what the man had said, just continued to breath heavily with his head resting on his chest. He knew that the team would be watching this but he couldn't bring himself to even look at the camera.

"Pity. It seems as though he doesn't want to speak right now. Well, I guess we'll call it a day then. And we'll end it on a positive note!"

He readjusted the gun so that it was aimed near Greg's heart, and his grip on the trigger tightened. Greg now had his head up. If he was about to be shot, he wasn't going to go out looking like a coward. He looked straight at the camera, and was slightly surprised to see Ben standing there with his hand hovering above the camera, looking like he was getting ready to do something. Then, out of the corner of his eye, Greg saw Don make a slight movement with his free hand again, and as he did so, Ben clapped his hand over the lens of the camera.

Before Greg had time to register what was going on, a shot rang out through the room, and once again, pain made it's ugly face present in Greg's broken body.

* * *

It was nothing short of horrific. Watching him get beat in so many different ways. Everyone except for Grissom had had to look away at some point or other, but Grissom hardly even blinked. 

It definitely was not because watching it didn't make his insides burn, but he knew right away that this guy was smart. Too smart. Therefore, Grissom knew that he needed to watch every second of the video, in hopes of seeing the tiniest of details. The smallest of details that might give them some sort of lead on this case that they so desperately needed.

Unfortunately, nothing had caught his eye. Of course, the video would be put through hours of thorough analyzing, but it would be a Godsend to get some information now.

It wasn't until the very end of the video, when the gun was brought out did Grissom feel uncontrollable emotions. They weren't necessarily making him want to look away, but he was feeling sick. Immediately he thought of watching Nick in his box, with the tempting gun sitting beside him, looking so enticing. A guaranteed way to end it all. However, in that situation Grissom felt a little less nervous. He knew that Nick could have handled the situation for long enough. But now, it was much different. He had never stopped to consider what Greg would have done in Nick's situation, but that wasn't the case here at all. The situation was completely out of everyone's hands, except the bad guy's. Grissom felt lost with knowledge that he had no control in this situation at all.

Grissom, along with everyone else in the room had their eyes locked on the television set, not knowing what to expect. Then, as the man's arm muscles tightened, as he was so close to firing the gun, the screen went black. No one knew what to think, but because there was no proof the gun actually went off, they relaxed ever-so-slightly. However, seconds later, the unmistakable sound of a gun went off. A gun with a silencer, but a gun none the less. It was then followed by a weak cry of pain, no doubt from Greg.

The sudden shot had made everyone gasp and had also made some of the previously unwilling tears fall quickly and silently. But they remained quiet as they heard a voice coming from tv.

"_I hope you can see the seriousness of the situation now. I expect you'll be hearing from me very soon. Good day to you all._"

The video ended. No one moved a muscle; they were all too shocked to say or do anything at all. Surely he had not been shot. It was possible he was just forced to make a sound, right?

Warrick broke the silence by swearing under his breath. He had never been amazingly close to Greg, but he respected the kid. He had come a long way, and for this to happen to him, and him being so young. He just shook his head in disgust.

Both Sara and Catherine were silently crying, and Nick stood perfectly still. He was so tense and stiff. So many different emotions were racing across his features. The most dominant however seemed to be fear, which was understandable.

"Alright," Grissom spoke up silently, but firmly. "We'll need to get this over to Archie right away. There has got to be _something _we can get from it." He paused for a moment, then added "Make sure that it is only him that sees it."

Warrick nodded in agreement, then got the DVD from the player and walked out of the room.

"Catherine, go see what Jackie and Hodges has."

Catherine ran her hands over her face, wiping away the tears, then also stood. She seemed shaky and a little unstable, but eventually made her way out as well.

Grissom looked at Sara and Nick. Both of them had been the closest to Greg, there was no doubt about that. Nick and Greg had always been good friends and Sara had been working a lot of cases with him lately and had been one of the main ones to teach Greg so much about the job. Grissom was much more sensitive when it came to giving them their jobs.

"For right now, I'm going to send out a broadcast," Grissom said quietly to both Nick and Sara. They looked at him slightly confused. "I figure it wouldn't hurt to get Greg's picture out there, maybe someone saw him lately. As you may have noticed, we are in need of anything we can get."

Nick and Sara nodded in agreement, but looked more defeated at their realization of how desperate they were.

"So, get a picture and go back to the tape of the hallways and see what he was wearing. Anything that can help."

Nick and Sara left the room, leaving Grissom to think. So many thoughts raced through his head that he didn't have the ability to focus on one thing. Then it occurred to him that the kidnapper would be calling, and possibly soon. They didn't know when this was filmed exactly, and had said that he would be in contact very soon.

Grissom turned suddenly to the phone sitting on the desk. It seemed so evil in Grissom's eyes. There it was, just sitting there as though nothing was different. And at some point, it would ring and on the other end would be the man that Grissom despised most at the moment. But until then, it would sit, looking innocent, further depriving Grissom and his team of the knowledge they so desperately wanted on any word on Greg's condition.

Grissom was certain Greg was still alive. He was the kidnappers only game piece and if he was dead, he would be no use to the man at all. And naturally the man would know that Grissom would demand to know if Greg was alive. But none of that ruled out Greg being seriously hurt. Possibly even on a time-limit. He could have been shot somewhere that would slowly let the blood drain from Greg until he died.

Grissom shuddered.

Just then, the phone rang. He walked cautiously over to it.

"Hello?"

"_Ahh, Mr. Grissom. I do hope you received my gift?"_

"Where's Greg."

"_I take that as a yes_," the man said it so casually, as if it were just a cute little joke.

"Where is Greg," Grissom said more sternly.

"_Temper, temper Mr. Grissom. But to answer your question, he is right here."_

Grissom began to speak, but was cut off.

"_And to answer your next question, he is in fact alive. Not doing so good by the looks of it, but alive none the less. And yes, you will be allowed to speak with him in a moments time."_

Taken aback by the man's comments, which did answer the first questions Grissom was planning on asking, Grissom didn't say anything.

"_So I guess you're wondering what it is that I want. Well, I am unfortunately still a little upset from your rudeness so I will not be telling you that right now. I will however be sending you more little gifts as I am sure you love them so much. You see Mr. Grissom, I have all the time in the world. I cannot say the same for Gregory because who knows what the future will bring. I will however tell you that he is not on death's doorstep as of yet. So all-in-all, we should all be fairly happy."_

Anger shot through Grissom. This man was in no rush what-so-ever, which made him less likely to make mistakes.

"_And now, I will let you have a few words with Gregory. And again, I will be in contact with you and your CSI's. Good day to you Mr. Grissom."_

The phone went silent and Grissom's heart began to race. He wanted more than anything to hear Greg's voice to ensure that he was still alive, but he was still nervous to hear him. The same person he had just watched get mutilated.

Grissom heard small, raspy breaths and his fear diminished and was replaced with concern.

"Greg?"

A small and very weak voice answered, "_Grissom?"_

Grissom's eyes watered. It was painful to hear him like this, but there was still sounds of hope in his voice despite everything.

"Greg, I want you to listen to me, ok? We are doing everything we can and we will find you. You hear me? We will find you."

He heard more raspy breaths then, "_I know you will, Grissom_."

Grissom's heart swelled. The words were real. Grissom knew that Greg knew that they would find him. In fact, Greg sounded more sure of it then Grissom himself. However, once he heard Greg say this, Grissom felt much less unsure.

He was going to find Greg alive. There was no other choice.

"_Be sure to t.. tell everyone that I.. I miss them. And make sure that there is s.. some coffee and ch.. Chocolate waiting on me. I would l.. love some chocolate_."

Grissom could help but smile. How Greg managed to stay Greg was beyond him.

"I'll do that Greg. I'll make the coffee now, and it will still be warm when you get here."

There was more silence, then Grissom heard someone say "that's enough" And the line went dead.

Grissom was left standing with the phone to his ear, feeling really good. He hadn't liked hearing Greg's voice so weak, but he had given him hope. His words replayed over and over and Grissom's head, and for the first time since this all started, Grissom felt confident that Greg would not only be found alive, but he would not be too damaged mentally.

He felt confident that Greg would still be Greg when they found him, and that was more than anyone could ask for.

* * *

**Ok so you guys should be pretty happy with me because this one was going to be a cliffhanger with the whole gun thing, and you still don't know where or if he was shot at all, but I figured you guys would know I wouldn't kill him now anyways and with that knowledge, I thought I would give you all some more story. Also, isn't the whole storyline with Don and Ben getting interesting? Starting to see some of their reason of why they are doing this? Well, I'll tell you that all of this happened as I was writing. I was orgianlly just going to come right out with their characters and their plans, but I like this so much more. I hope you all do as well. It adds more originalitly to such an over-used storyline. So.. Yep. Anyways, Christmas break is coming up. (Last day is Wednesday) This could mean very good writing opportunities, and it could mean the opposite. We shall see. Thanks for reading, comment if you can and Happy Holidays! (if I don't write until after the holidays).**


	6. Chapter 6

**Yay! I got it out so early! Anyways, I really liked writing this one so I hope you like reading it! I do have some notes for you so…**

**AN: This is post Fannysmackin'. It's mentioned, so don't be surprised when you see it. I don't think there is anything else to warn you about though. **

**So.. Enjoy!

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**

Ha was elated to have finally talked to someone he knew and cared about, he just wished that he hadn't felt so bad. Of course, he couldn't complain too much, because only hours ago he thought he was going to be shot dead.

The gun _did _go off, and the bullet _did _get him, but only in the leg. It had definitely hurt really bad, but it was not life threatening. In fact, it wasn't even bleeding so bad anymore.

It had to have been at least four hours since the beating happened and he was getting used to the pain. This didn't seem to go over to well with Don because about an hour after the attack, Don had forced Greg to watch the tape and see how it ended. It felt like he had been punched in the stomach after he saw it, knowing exactly what the team would be thinking. Surely they wouldn't think he was _dead, _but it would make them much more worried.

After watching it, Greg could not stop thinking about it. It had been a really smart and particularly evil thing to do, to let them know that he had been shot, but let their imaginations run wild as to where he had been shot, and how bad it was.

So when Don picked up the cheap little phone to call the lab again, Greg felt sure that he wouldn't have to worry about this anymore. He knew that Don would let them be sure he was still alive, even if it meant that Don had to hurt him to let them hear him. As long as they knew, it didn't matter.

The fact of the matter was, while he did not like getting whipped, electrocuted, and beat, it was much more bearable than worrying about his friends and what they may be going through.

Don's words had been hurtful. He made it perfectly clear he was in no rush, which meant less mistakes. He also let Grissom know that he would not hesitate to continuously hurt Greg until he was close to death. This had all made him very worried, but once he was given the phone and heard Grissom telling him that they would find him, Greg couldn't help but feel better. He made a few jokes, which were mainly for Grissom's benefit (and whoever else heard it), but it didn't hurt to be lighthearted for him either.

Don apparently realized that both Greg and Grissom were enjoying the phone call a bit too much for his taste, and then ended it quickly. But it didn't matter, Greg still felt really good about everything. At least mentally.

Physically was a different story. The little session he had had with Don a couple hours ago had definitely taken its toll on him. He was completely drained. He didn't even have the energy lift his arms or head. His body ached everywhere. Inside and out. For whatever reason, breathing had become significantly more difficult. He guessed more ribs were broken during the beating and it was laboring his breaths. He couldn't think clearly, though it had all been improving slowly since the beating.

All-in-all, he guessed that he was pretty well off. Yeah, he hurt like hell but knew it could have been much much worse. Then, his attitude after talking with Grissom was also helping with the pain. Another one of those magical little mind tricks.

He had been so pleased with the phone call, that he didn't realize how unhappy Ben seemed to be with it. While Don was talking, Ben tensed up even more than before and seemed to be very angry. Every now and then, he would stare Don down, who didn't seem to notice or maybe he just didn't care.

Finally after the phone call ended, Ben stood up suddenly, and stood right in front of Don. There was such a difference in the two. Height obviously, but their build as well as the mood they threw off.

Don stood up a little straighter at the sight of Ben who was looking very threatening.

"What are you doing, boy?" He asked suspiciously, throwing out his chest.

"I'm wondering the same exact thing about you," Ben spit back at him. Greg was impressed by his sudden confidence and anger.

Don however, did not seem impressed. He got a little angrier, but also seem confused by Ben's behavior.

"You said, that this would not take long." Ben took a deep breath. "You said that you were just going to take him, do what you absolutely _have _to do to get what you want. And _nothing _more!"

Ben was furious. Don looked much different now. He was still angry looking, but seemed to have softened up. Greg couldn't place his finger on the change exactly, but there was something different.

"What are you saying?"

"I'M SAYING THAT YOU LIED TO ME!" Ben was now screaming, he too had put on a very macho appearance. Don just looked dumbfounded.

For a moment he just stood there, staring into Ben's outraged eyes. Finally he spoke up.

"Look B..," he stopped suddenly and shook his head. "I know this is.. Different but it has to be done."

"No it doesn't! You even said that you weren't going to tell them what it is you want now, just because. LOOK AT HIM, DAD!!" Ben through his arm towards Greg, who was completely frozen.

_Dad? _Ben is Don's son? Honestly, he wasn't sure why this was such a surprise because their ages worked with a father/son age range, and then they did have similar features. It would also account for why Ben seemed so obedient to Don.

Greg looked back at Ben and Don. Don was now the furious one, and it was obvious that Ben realized he made a mistake in revealing their relationship, but he held onto his anger.

"Look son," Don said sternly, "I know what I'm doing…"

"NO YOU DON'T! He's bleeding everywhere. He can hardly even move! You would have never done this if Mom hadn't.."

Ben was stopped in mid-sentence by Don's hand colliding with his face. Ben spun around by the force of the slap, and kept his hand on his face as he brought his eyes back up to his Dad's eyes.

"You like him so much, then you can stay in here with him for a few hours. And if you say anything about why he is here, you will be severely punished, you understand me boy?"

Ben just stared back at him and Don apparently took that as a 'yes'. He turned around and walked out the room, locking the door behind him.

Well this is odd, Greg thought to himself. He had no idea what would happen now, but he knew it had to be better than being locked in here with Don.

He looked back up at Ben, who was still standing in the same position he was in when Don left the room. Slowly, he looked over at Greg, but looked away really quick. Greg just sat there for a moment, debating whether to say anything or not. Finally, one side won.

"Thanks." He said it quietly, but Ben still heard it.

He looked back at Greg, then at his feet, and nodded. Ben cared. Greg knew it. He turned his back to Greg.

"You, uh. You want to watch tv?" He asked silently.

"Theres… a tv in here??"

Ben turned around and briefly looked at Greg. He smiled sadly.

"Yeah. It only gets the local station, but.. But I figure its better than nothing, right?" Greg was sure than Ben was desperately uncomfortable being here with him, but Greg was happy that he was. He nodded in agreement with Ben's statement, too tired to waste his energy on such a small word like 'yes'.

Ben walked over to a corner that Greg had never been able to see due to shadows always hiding it and turned on the tv. The room immediately lit up, showing the horrors of it more clearly, but also made it all feel more normal. Anytime Greg had even been home alone as a kid and felt scared, he would turn on a tv, and it would, for whatever reason, make him feel safer.

He felt much better as it came on and Ben sat on the floor near Greg. They sat in silence for a few moments, but when Greg attempted to reposition himself, but instead irritated an injury on his arm causing him to hiss in pain, Ben seemed to find it necessary to talk.

"Look, I.. I know sorry wouldn't cut it, but.. I didn't want to do any of this… I … My dad is just.." He fumbled through his thoughts, sounding desperate and fearful at the same time. But he did not look at Greg not once.

Honestly, Greg wasn't sure how to take his apologies or reasoning's or whatever they were. Part of him felt sorry for the kid, knowing that he had not wanted to do it at all, while the other part of him was angry at him for still going through with it. After a moment of decided what to do, a very logical part of him spoke up:

He needed to keep this kid on his good side. Make him realize that Greg is not only a human being, but a good person. He had already made it clear that he didn't want to do this and he was willing to stand up to Don, so it would be in Greg's best interest to make Ben like him. And, Greg thought to himself, if he managed to convert Ben to his side completely, then this was one of the worst things Don could have possibly done.

"I understand.. pretty much," he laughed a little, in hopes of lightning the mood. It seemed to have worked though because Ben actually looked at him. "I've been a CSI for about 3 years now. I've seen cases kind of like this."

Ben nodded.

"I figured you couldn't have been a CSI for long. You look really young."

Greg nodded, and again they sat in silence for a few minutes.

"You know, I remember.. Seeing on the news where a CSI was kidnapped.." his voice trailed off.

Greg nodded. "Yep, that was my friend Nick."

"Did he.. Is he.."

"He's alive and still works at the lab."

As Greg said this, he felt hope swell inside of him again. Nick made it and is still a CSI...

"I.. I also saw not too long ago.. I saw where a CSI was beat up and… hit one of the gang members." Greg knew from his voice that Ben knew which CSI this was.

Greg stayed quiet. Not sure how to respond to this.

"I uh.. I saw the trial thing as well. That.. He kind of looked like you..?"

Greg nodded again.

"Yes, that was me." He wasn't sure why, but talking about it made him feel miserable.

Ben seemed to deflate. He also looked miserable now. Silence filled the room again, and Greg knew he needed to keep talking to him. But preferably about something else. Talking wasn't feeling too good right now, but it needed to be done so he would keep on until he absolutely couldn't do it anymore.

"What do you do?"

"What? Oh.. I'm still in school," he stopped then hung his head and said more quietly "Well, I was in college. Dad.. Well, he wanted me to drop out for… this."

"What were you majoring in?" This was not working out too well.

"Well, science actually. I'm not sure what I was going to be, but I've always loved science. I think I got it from my Mom…" he fell silent again after seeming excited to talk about his passion.

This could not be more perfect.

"Really? Well, being a CSI is all about science. And actually, I've worked in the crime lab for about eight years now. I used to be the DNA technician."

Ben lit up.

"Really? How old are you because that… you can't be that old.."

"I graduated high school early then majored in science. I've loved it since I was eight."

"Wow… Why did you leave the lab then? I know being a CSI is about science too. But DNA.. Besides it had to have been safer…" he got quiet towards the end of his sentence.

Greg laughed quietly.

"You'd think so. Well, I guess it is. So far I've been beat up and kidnapped while being out in the field. But.. I changed mainly because I.. I saw the CSI's and how close they were and I wanted it." He stopped for a minute a starting coughing. "And besides, after the lab exploded, I found myself kind of scared to be in there."

"Your lab exploded?"

"Yeah. I flew right threw the glass wall. I was lucky though. I turned... turned away from the blast right before it happened, so I only got burned on my back. Then of course a few cuts and bruises. It wasn't too bad though."

Ben laughed. "Yeah, especially compared to this, huh?"

Greg stopped to think about his reply.

"Yeah, it was a little better than this."

It got quiet again. They could hear Don moving around outside the room. Neither of them said anything for a long time. Just sat there. Greg started to feel his injuries more now, though he wasn't sure why. He guessed it might be because it was getting cold. Either way, he was hurting.

Don made Ben sit in there with Greg for about two hours before the door opened and Don came in. He looked kind of apologetic towards Ben and handed him two plates of food. He then turned around and left the room, leaving the door unlocked this time.

Ben brought the food over to Greg and sat back down beside him. He looked around for a second, then back to Greg.

"He didn't leave the key."

Greg shook his head slightly. "It's ok. I'm not very hungry."

"No, you need to eat. You need the energy."

"I know. But my stomach is killing me and I have a lot of blood in my mouth."

Ben stopped and looked sick again.

"Oh, right. I'll go and get more things to clean you up, and I'll get the key from him too. But you have to eat." He lowered his voice "I'm going to try to get him to stop this, but he… he's very violent you know, and I can't stop him sometimes. I don't want you dead, so you need to eat."

He stood up, then looked down at Greg.

"I'm going to try to help you, but you will need to listen to me, and to Dad. Ok?"

Greg nodded again. As Ben left the room, he found himself shocked at how easy it was to get Ben on his side. Of course, it didn't seem like Ben was going to call the cops or anything, but he would probably try to reason with his dad, which was better than nothing. And even if the beating didn't let up too much, Ben would still be on his side to clean him up and help out with things. Or at least, that's what he hoped.

But for right now, that's what Greg believed because he was now sure that his survival would have a lot do to with how he thought and staying optimistic was a huge part of it.

Greg leaned his head on the wall and let his body ache. It was ok though, because he got to speak to Grissom and he kind of, in a weird way, made a new friend. Given the circumstances, things were going pretty well.

He sat alone again, watching the tv that was surprisingly left on. The news was on now and Greg was enjoying listening to the anchor lady talk.

"_And now, for breaking news we head over to Jeana Lovelace over at the Las Vegas Crime Lab, where one of the investigators have been kidnapped."_

Greg's heart stopped. It was about him! The screen changed to another woman, and in the background Greg saw the lab. He felt like crying he was so happy to see it. But more importantly, he saw Grissom, Sara, and Nick standing with the woman.

"_Thank you Mary. This is a story we remember all too well. Just two years ago, a Crime Scene Investigator was kidnapped while on duty, was found alive and was able to be hear with us today. Now, another member of the Crime Lab has been kidnapped, Mr. Gregory Sanders,_" the screen changed again, this time showing a picture of Greg. If was from the time that him and Nick had gone surfing.

"_He_ _was taken from the lab yesterday afternoon. Not many details have been released, but the members of the crime lab are asking for everyone's help in finding him. Here to talk with us and give us tips on what we can do is Gilbert Grissom, Sara Sidle, and the survivor of the last kidnapping attack, Mr. Nick Stokes._"

Greg held his breath as he watched his friends and co-workers ask for everyone to help them find him. He felt a tear roll down his bloody cheek, burning his cuts. He wasn't sure how he felt about this, but it was good to see his friends again, even if it was just on tv. They did, however, look sad. He would have given anything to suddenly appear beside them and reassure them. But for now, they would all have to wait and hope.

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**Ahhh.. So are things looking up, or is this the calm before the storm? Haha, I have no idea what I'm going to do, but its a good thing to think about huh? Haha. I know this had very little of the team, but I felt that it was time we got to know Ben more. He seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel. But I had to put a little of the team in there, and I figured, why not have them on the tv? It fit perfectly. I personally don't know where the story will be going from here, so you're guess is as good as mine, but as of now, I like where it has gone. I hope you guys have too. Anyways, comment if you can. Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: **Got this one out earlier than I expected. I would like to make a note on my many typos. They suck. I reread these things over and over and do what I can, but I will always miss some so I'm sorry.

That being said, lets be happy! It is officially Christmas Eve (and for those of you that do not celebrate Christmas, then it is just another day. A good day!) So, this is your Christmas present! (Or, just a totally random present for anyone else!) Ok, so now I'm wasting everyone's time, including my own, so lets move on, shall we?

**Thanks: **To everyone who have commented. I would love to send you all replies, but I don't always get around to it so thanks to everyone! It makes me want to keep writing and post quicker cuz I just hate it when people don't update their stories for weeks, especially when I really really want it. Oh well. That's another issue all together.

**Disclaimer: **Don't own nothing

Sorry everyone for the long blabbering. Enjoy the chapter!

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The news conference had been weird. He didn't like to talk about what had happened to him, especially when it was going to be broadcasted throughout Vegas and possibly all of Nevada. But they had told them that his story would attract more people, and more people looking for Greg gave them better chances of getting him back alive. And all-in-all, that's what counted, but he still hadn't felt comfortable with talking about it.

He was happy that Griss and Sara was there with him and in all honestly, they talked most about Greg and things the viewers could do to help, so it wasn't too bad at all.

Either way, it was just another way of getting Greg back, so it was welcomed by everyone.

The whole lab knew now. Most of them knew before the news station got involved, but it was all whispers. _Greg Sanders? Greg kidnapped?! Why him!?!…He's much too young. _Some of there whispers made anger shoot through his body. Why were they talking about him as if he was already dead? As far as anyone knew, Greg was still alive and they had no right to give up on him!

He was on his way to the lay-out room where Grissom had told everyone to meet. Apparently, he had received another phone call right before the news people came and didn't have time to tell anyone about it. Nick silently prayed that it was good information. Maybe they had a lead or even a _hint _of a lead. Anything at all would be more than welcomed at this point.

He rounded the corner into the lay-out room where he saw everyone gathered. It was an odd sight seeing everyone in there so tense and worried looking. He wondered if this is how it was when he was kidnapped. Warrick and Grissom were the only ones sitting, everyone else stood or was leaning on something. None of them seemed to be focused on one thing, they all just kind of stared off at something. Their minds running free, probably thinking about Greg and what he was going through.

Nick came in a decided to stand. He crossed his arms across his chest and looked expectantly at Grissom. He wanted to know now what was going on. Grissom was also staring at nothing, but seemed less tense than everyone else. It didn't surprise him that Grissom didn't look or seem as worried. He never figured out how, but Grissom had the ability to remain calm during tough situations, but Nick had wondered if this certain situation would be an exception.

Apparently not.

A few seconds after Nick came in, everyone else began to focus on Grissom, and sensing their demanding eyes on him, Grissom looked up at everyone.

"I got another call. Archie already has the tape and is getting what he can from it."

Everyone stood in silence for a moment, expecting more from Grissom, but when nothing else came from his mouth, Catherine spoke up.

"Is that it? That's all you wanted to tell us?"

She stopped and looked at Grissom who offered no response at all.

"Grissom. Greg is out there going through God only knows what, you get a call and you don't tell us about it? Do you know how he is? Are you sure he's alive? What did the guy want? Grissom, you can't leave us like this."

Catherine's anger seemed to be shared with everyone else in the room. Grissom knew something like this was coming and he wasn't really sure why he hadn't told them everything at the beginning, but he didn't. However, they did deserve to know.

He took a deep breath, and without looking any of them in the eye, began to speak.

"I spoke first with the kidnapper. He did not wish to tell me the meaning of his actions as of yet, but made it obvious he would eventually tell us what he wants. And, I talked to Greg."

Everyone stiffened and straightened up.

"And..?"

"And.." What was he going to say? "And he's doing… remarkably well."

They all stared at him, looking slightly confused.

"What do you mean _remarkably well_? How so?" Sara said, making herself visible after staying quiet for so long.

"Well, he's definitely weak, but he's still… Greg." He actually thought that this was a very good way to explain how Greg was doing, but they apparently wanted more.

"He was very optimistic, even made some jokes."

Grissom wasn't sure if he imagined it or not, but his team's faces seemed to loosen a bit. That's when he knew what they needed.

"I think we should all go listen to the tape again, and see what Archie has."

Hearing Greg's voice and his optimism had made a world of difference for Grissom, so it couldn't hurt for the rest of them to hear it.

They all made their way to Archie's lab and found Archie listening intently to something on his headphones.

"Archie. You got anything?"

Archie's head popped up and looked at all his visitors, and smiled.

"Sort of. It's not much. I don't think it will help to find him, but its something."

"Every bit counts," Warrick said solemnly.

"Right, well from this last one, I think that is more than just one kidnapper."

Grissom raised his eyebrow. This wasn't very surprising, but he hadn't really thought about more than one person terrorizing Greg.

"How do you figure," Nick asked.

Archie removed the headphones and did some things with his computer, then some clips began to play.

"_Well, I am unfortunately still a little upset from your rudeness so I will not be telling you that right now. I will however be sending you more little gifts as I am sure you love them so much."_

Everyone listened and the Archie stopped the tape. Of course, no one except Grissom and Archie had heard the full tape, and this certain clip being the first part of it they heard wasn't very good. Grissom had hoped they would be able to hear the whole thing through, feel a little better after hearing Greg, and then work. But, if Archie had something, he wanted to hear it now in case there was anything they could do.

"Right there." Archie rewound the clip, did more things with the computer then replayed it. Only this time, the kidnapper could not be heard, just some background sounds.

"Ok, that sounds like chains, probably Greg. But that… that right there was the sound of footsteps. Now, because the kidnapper's voice shows no signs of straining that people get when do any physical activity, however small, means that there must be someone else in that room, other than just Greg and the kidnapper," Archie said quickly, in an almost excited tone. "Unless Greg is able to walk freely, which I doubt given the video and everything."

"No, Greg is not able to walk around freely."

"I doubt he'd be able to even if he wasn't tied up with the way he's been treated."

Everyone looked at Nick, half worried, half annoyed. They didn't want to hear things like that, but the fact that Nick said it in such an angry voice kind of worried them. It wasn't really that he sounded angry, because they all had the right to be angry, but since the whole thing started, Nick was a factor they were worried about. With his past and relationship with Greg, it was all reason for concern. However, they brushed off his comment.

"So, there is at least two kidnappers, and we've only seen and communicated with one?" Sara asked, trying to sum everything up.

At first there was agreement within the room, but it was interpreted by Archie.

"No."

Everyone looked at him, demanding an explanation.

Archie now seemed flustered.

"I feel like an idiot. I didn't even need that last phone call to tell me there is someone else involved..."

Archie started to type furiously and searched through things on his desk until he finally found whatever he was looking for. The screen changed in a flash and it showed the familiar site of Greg, bound and bloody laying on the ground with a man standing over him and a gun pointed at Greg's chest. Yeah, they had seen it already, but it didn't make it any easier to see again. Everyone sent a questioning look at Archie, who was still concentrating on his computer. He let the video play in slow motion until the point when the screen was about to go black, and paused it.

And there it was, as clear as day:

A hand coming at the camera, obviously going very fast, but was still visible once it was paused.

"How could I have missed this," Archie said, mentally kicking himself.

Everyone stared at the screen, discovering that Archie's feelings of idiocy were making their way into all of them. They should have figured that out on their own. The little signal the kidnapper gave before the screen went black should have hit them right then and there that there was an accomplice.

"Ok.. So there is definitely someone else there. That unfortunately does not give us much more right now."

Sara felt her hopes die a little. She looked back up at Greg, laying on the cold floor in that room and felt her eyes water. Why him?

"So what do we do now, Grissom?" Nick said, louder and with more anger than before.

Everyone looked at him, mostly worried this time.

"We… we wait, Nick."

* * *

Ben had left hours ago, leaving him feeling lonely and of course, he was still in loads of pain. The shock of hearing about himself on the news had died down, and he now faced the blunt reality of everything again: he was being held by a violent madman.

_Nice thinking Greg. Way to stay optimistic_, he thought sarcastically.

He had been hearing Ben and Don shout at each other for a little while now, though he couldn't make out what they were saying. Ben had never come back with anything to mop up all the blood on Greg, or to bring to key. So, Greg never touched the food that sat in front of him. Which, was not such a bad thing because he wasn't really hungry. He knew he needed the food, but he didn't want it.

So, it was better not wanting it, and not getting it, than it was to want it and not get it. Greg laughed out loud at his reasoning. That just barely made sense if anyone could actually decipher it in the first place.

Then the logical side of his mind kicked in: his thoughts were getting a little abstract. When was the last time he actually slept? Greg thought about this pretty hard. When _was_ the last time he slept? He remembered sleeping, but he could not remember _when_ that was.

Time didn't really exist here. The only way he guessed that it was nighttime was because Don and Ben stopped coming in for hours, and also the feeling that the body automatically gives at certain times of the day.

Still, those indicators seemed to be faltering now. He now realized he had no idea how long he had been here, and when everything happened. He figured he couldn't have been here long, but how could he know for certain?

The uncertainty of something that used to come to him so easy was nothing less than unnerving. It was starting to freak him out. Time was one of the most solid and continuous features of the universe, and yet it was escaping Greg. It left him feeling lost.

But Greg abandoned his worrisome thoughts as his captor's shouts became more audible.

"Why can't you just tell them what you want?!"

"Because son, these things take time!"

"You've never actually done anything like this!"

"I know what I'm doing!"

"Yes Dad, your way may work, but there are other ways of getting what you want. Ways that do not involve hurting him so much!"

"Why do you care? Huh? What makes you so interested?"

"I'M NOT INTERESTED, DAD! IT'S JUST THAT I WAS RAISED TO TREAT PEOPLE BETTER THAN THIS!!! MOM WOULD HAVE NEVER CONSIDERED DOING ANYTHING LIKE THIS!!"

And then there was silence. The most quietest silence Greg had ever heard. He remembered the last time that Ben had brought up his mother, he had been slapped silly. What would happen this time? He found himself getting more and more worried as the eerie silence continued.

Suddenly, there was a very loud banging sound against Greg's door, as though something heavy had been thrown against it. Greg's stomach lurched, knowing what that something was.

Other than the initial thud against the door, he heard no other sounds. No more shouts, no more movements, but most importantly, no cries of pain or anything to suggest anyone was remotely hurt. He continued to strain his ears to hear anything he could, but nothing came for a while.

But then he heard something. It was very quiet, but Greg guessed that whoever made the sound was on the other side of his door. He knew he was someone saying something, judging by the deep voice, Greg guessed it was Don. He didn't hear _what _was said, but he did hear _how _it was said.

It was something short, and in an exasperated tone. Kind of desperate sounding. Then it hit him. Don had just said "_Oh God.."_

That cannot be good, he thought to himself. Surely Ben wasn't dead, right?

He heard another noise. It was also against his door, but this time it just sounded like someone hit the door. And then he heard "_Dammit!"_

That settled it. It _was _Don speaking, and he _was _very upset. So, something bad must have happened.

Then, there was another sound. But it was much different than any sound he had just heard.

It was a doorbell.

Greg's spirits soared at this sound. There was someone out there that could possibly help him!

His happiness was abruptly halted as he heard Don swear more, then his door busted open and Greg watched as Don dragged the lifeless form of Ben into his room.

"Just a minute!" Don yelled, as he pulled Ben to the middle of the room and turned to Greg suddenly.

"You say a Goddamn thing and I will shoot you so fast," he hissed, only inches from Greg's face.

With that, he turned away and hurried out of the room, closing the door behind him. Greg was about to strain his ears again, when Ben caught his eye. The kid was still out, but his stomach was rising and falling in a continuous pattern. He had a small line of blood streaking down his face, but it wasn't much. Greg was sure that he was just knocked out.

However, this could change his plans on using Ben to his advantage.

But he'd think about that later. Now, he wanted to listen to what was going on outside of his room. He heard another door open and then someone speaking.

"Hello Mr. Everett, I'm sorry to bother you, I was just wondering if everything was alright dear."

It sounded like an elderly woman and she sounded genuinely sweet.

"Oh yes, Mrs. Mason. Everything is fine." Don sounded disgustingly sweet, but it was obvious he was trying to rush the conversation.

"Oh, I'm sure. It's just.. I heard some shouting and a very loud noise and I know things have been rough.."

"Thank you Mrs. Mason, but everything is fine. We just had things fall off the shelves, that's all." This time he sounded a little frustrated.

"Oh, well alright. Don, you know that you can come over anytime you want. Oh, and Ben too. I do miss that young man. Is he here?"

"Yes he is. But he's not feeling well. He's sleeping."

"Oh dear. You know, I have some very special ways to make people feel better. My mother taught me all kinds of remedies to fix any kind of illness. Just let me see him and I'll have him better in no time."

"No, Mrs. Mason. He's asleep. Why don't you come back tomorrow and if he still feels bad, you can work your magic." Don was definitely getting more and more angry.

"Oh, all right then Donald. I'll see you later then."

"Goodbye Mrs. Mason."

Greg heard the door shut loudly, just short of a slam and then Don stomping back towards his door.

Greg prepared himself for anything. With everything that just happened, Ben being attacked, the woman coming, God only knew what was about to happen.

But when Don came slamming into his room, what did happen was totally unexpected.

Greg never would have imagined what actually did happen.

* * *

**Oh no, a cliffhanger. How evil am I? And I actually called this a present?! Haha, sorry everyone, but I wasn't planning on having a cliffhanger, it just happened. So.. Sorry. But aren't there some interesting new turns? I mean, they're not amazing, but Mrs. Mason sounds like a maybe? And what about Ben's position now? Hmm, your guess is as good as mine. For now anyways :) I hope to have the next one very soon. I tend to write a lot considering I'm on winter break. Luckily for you guys, I've been sick. Of course, not so good for me, but it's ok. I like writing too. Ok, well, Merry Christmas or just Happy Holidays to you all! **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **Holy flaming bat cave, Batman, I got another one out. And as you may have noticed already, this is one HUGE chapter(4801+ words without my notes). I don't know how it happened, but it did so I hope you guys are ok with that. Also, after writing this, I have discovered about how many more chapters this story will be. And I think you all will be able to guess as well at the end, but more about that later.

**Warnings: **Well, it's kind of different. Like, I did some interesting things in here that some of you will like, but some of you might not like it so much. It's just new. You see, what I do is I get the most general stuff planned out (like, someone is going to kidnap Greg) and then everything else happens as I write. Whatever flows into my fingers next is what happens. That's what happened with the character Ben. I never planned on having him. So anyways, some parts may be a little odd, but just try to accept it I guess. And if you hated it, then just say something about it.

**Thanks: **To everyone who commented. There was actually a really good amount of comments this time so thanks so much for that.

Anyways, enough blabble. Enjoy this amazingly long chapter.

* * *

Greg was amazed at what happened when Don returned from answering the door. He knew _something _would happen, but he definitely hadn't considered _this._

Once Don came in and half-heartedly slung the door shut behind him, he just stood in the middle of the room, staring at his unconscious, unmoving son. Just staring. Greg held his breath seeing that emotion was building up in Don, and knew it was all about to come out in some from. He personally thought that Don would start hitting stuff (Greg particularly), but instead, once the build-up was complete, Don dropped to his knees and began to cry.

Relief was one of the many things that Greg felt after seeing Don break down like this, but there were plenty of other feelings as well. Like, puzzlement for instance. In all honestly, this behavior shouldn't surprise him too much, but he figured it did because of his past with Don. Every time he had seen the man, hatred swallowed him. And then all the physically violent things Greg had been through as result of Don's fury. Either way, he did not feel sorry for the man. That he was sure of.

He did hate it that Ben was hurt, though. Sure, the kid hadn't called the cops or anything, but he had never actually hurt Greg and had always been there to clean him up afterwards. And now, he had got himself a concussion for trying to help Greg. So, Ben did deserve his sympathy.

Greg was lost in thought when he heard himself speak. He had no earthly clue where it came from, or why in the world he would say it, but he did. In a small, strained voice he said:

"You should p… probably get him to a hospital."

After the words had successfully left his mouth, Greg's stomach tightened. He was not sure how this man would react. He could do anything from start crying more to beating the living hell out of Greg. So now, it was time to wait.

Greg watched nervously as Don hushed his crying and slowly looked over at Greg. Don remained on his knees in front of Ben, but his angered eyes stayed glued on Greg.

"Ha! You just want me to leave so you can scream for help," he spat out at Greg.

The man sounded more evil than evil. With his red puffy eyes, strained voice and anger radiating from each syllable, he made it crystal clear he was in a very bad mood. So, Greg bit his tongue and just looked away.

For a moment, things stayed this way. Greg wasn't sure if Don had gone back to weeping over Ben, or if he had kept staring at him, but he didn't care. Then, Don spoke up again.

"And what do you know anyway? It's just a bump."

There it was. The sign of weakness. Greg knew right away that Don was very scared of Ben's condition. He heard it in Don's tone. He was very nervous. Greg mustered up some courage and decided to speak again. He knew exactly what he was going to say, and also knew that the result of his comment could be very good, or very very bad.

"No, he has a concussion. You are suppose to get those checked out immediately or it could be very bad."

Don's features changed at this comment. He was almost defensive when he said:

"Well, you must have a concussion too! And you aren't dead!"

He was definitively trying to make himself feel better now. There was no doubt in Greg's mind that Don also knew it was probably best to take Ben up to the hospital, But Don didn't want to do something so risky. And then, despite his anger issues, Don did care about his son and so he also did not want to face the fact that he may have seriously hurt his own kid. So, Greg pressed on.

"Yeah, I'm sure I have plenty of them. But I didn't lose consciousness, which means that my concussions are either grade one or two. He has a grade three concussion, which can be very serious."

Don looked horrified now. He glanced back and forth between Greg and Ben, as though one of them would give him an answer. But of course, it never came.

"So… so he could die? Or… what? I mean, what _is _a concussion. Like, what does it do," Don asked almost frantically.

"A concussion is basically just damage to the brain from some sort of impact to the head," Greg said tiredly. His body was getting tiered by the minute and he guessed it must have been getting late. However, the look on Don's face made it clear that he wasn't fully understanding the concept of a 'concussion'.

"Look," Greg said kind of irritably, "it's not necessarily life-threatening, but it could cause some long-term damage."

Greg ended and laid his head against the wall. Don stood there staring at him for a little but. It looked as though he understood it now, but he seemed to be deciding what to do from here.

"But.. I can't leave the house.. I..," Don wasn't talking directly to Greg, but was more or less talking to himself.

"Fine," Greg blurted out, his head now hurting. "Just hold something to his head to stop the bleeding. If he wakes up, then he has a good chance, if he doesn't then you're both screwed."

Don stared blankly at him for a moment, then suddenly stood up, bent down and lifted Ben into his arms. Greg watched, kind of surprised at how strong Don was. It was quite a site though, Don holding Ben as though he were a little kid. Then, without any further conversation, Don left the room.

Everything he had said about concussions were true, except the part about waking up. It seemed right to think that if a person woke up not too long after the attack, the condition wasn't too bad. But then again, the brain was a very tricky thing to be messing around with. But, he told Don that none-the-less, probably just to get the man out of his hair.

He started to see that his attitude was changing drastically. He was being more reckless, taking many more risks. Not cowering at everything Don said. And most importantly, the thought of 'pain' didn't scare him. Pain was no longer a huge issue to him, which in itself was a disturbing thought.

Greg sat there, wondering what was going on. He found he didn't really care though. He was now hungry, exhausted, his body ached from everything that had happened to him, and now he was fairly certain he was dehydrated as well. No one had really thought to give him any water. All these aches and pains had made him care less. About everything.

He still cared of course, mainly about Grissom and the team, but not so much about how he was treated. He thought back to other cases he had seen, and also started thinking about Nick's kidnapping again.

Their experiences were very different. Greg was sure he had got the better situation though. He'd rather be beaten to death than to be completely alone, knowing that you are dying, and not knowing if anyone even knew you were gone.

He felt his eyes water thinking about his friend. And then about everyone else, because he knew they were worried sick about him. He didn't want that at all. And then his mind ran across the videos they had been sent, and he found himself getting sick to his stomach on top of the hunger pains and the physical pains to it.

_Clear your head, _Greg thought to himself. _You need to stop thinking about all of this and try to rest. _He agreed with himself, but of course it was easier said than done.

He tried to stop thinking about everything, and instead found himself thinking about camel and a desert. He was entering the phase right before sleep. The time when one dreams very strange dreams that almost always correlate to the person's surroundings.

_He lingered his thoughts on this camel and watched it walk through the endless desert. It was strong at first, but began to wobble ever-so-slightly. The blazing sun baring down on it's back. The harsh winds causing the sand to rise up and race through the air like millions of little bullets. The camel still stood despite it all. Though, it was obvious it was needing water. Greg heard a very distant voice of his saying 'Even camels need water at some point.' This scene played out for a very long time. With each step, the camel faltered a little more until it finally slow down and literally dragged itself through the deep sand. And then, it fell to it's knees, so close to letting go and allowing the sands to cover him, take him out of his misery. But, he wasn't ready. He tried to pull himself up. He tried and tried, falling back to the ground on every attempt. Then, finally he got higher than he had been yet. He was so close to standing back up, getting passed everything and rising above his hindrances…._

A door slammed, causing Greg to jolt violently against his bounds. He gazed stupidly at his surroundings. At first, he had no idea where he was or why he was in so much pain. He was close to having a panic attack when he saw Don's face, and everything came racing back to him. He allowed himself to relax, and instead focused on Don, who had changed significantly since the last time Greg saw him.

The major difference was that he wasn't as worried looking. He also seemed more relaxed, which meant that things were going a little better than they were before.

"He's awake," Don said simply.

"Great," Greg replied in a monotone. He didn't give a rats ass how Ben was doing. Not right now anyways. He figured he was a little grouchy from being woken up so suddenly like that, and then having his _kidnapper _tell him that his son is doing better was not exactly fantastic news to Greg. Right now, he wanted to go home. That's it. That, or be with his friends. Nothing else mattered now, not even the possibility of Don getting mad and beating him again.

Instead of lashing out, Don wore an understanding look, which only made Greg more angry. He couldn't possibly understand _anything _about what Greg was going through!

"I, I just wanted to thank you…"

Greg interrupted him with angry laughs. Was this man actually _thanking _him? The same man that kidnapped and beat him, was thanking him?

"Well, your welcome," he said much to loudly. He was hysterical and knew that everything he was doing was a very bad idea. But he was passed caring. Not even thoughts of the CSI's could hold him back from his angry rant. Everything he had went through for the past couple of days came barreling out. He knew that all of his physical and mental injuries were causing him to become someone else. He was now dazed and confused, but felt this uncontrollable urge to yell at this man. No, to hurt him, and if he got the chance, maybe even kill him.

"I so very happy you didn't kill your son! Its actually a good thing for me, because he's been trying to help me," he laughed widely. Don's eye filling with anger. But he just didn't care.

"Look, I'm 31 years old and I've been a CSI for about three years. I've seen a lot! I've been through a lot! And I don't know what happened to your wife," At this point, Don's face turned a deep shape of red, almost purple. "But I had nothing to do with it! So you know what? Go ahead and kill me! Or torture me or whatever you're planning on doing. Because I just don't care anymore. I just don't care!" Tears were now streaming down his face, stinging all of his cuts. Don stayed glued to his spot, outraged and shocked at Greg's sudden outburst.

Greg allowed himself to cry. He had always thought it unmanly, but he couldn't help it now. And, in his defense, there was very little liquid actually coming from his eyes. He guessed his body was too tired and too deprived of water to actually cry.

He was calming down now, and was regretting everything he had just said and done. His head cleared enough to realize the damage he had just done. His kidnapper had _thanked _him. That might have been his only chance to get out of here. Or even if he was treated better. But now that was no longer an option. He wished he could go back and do it all over, or have Don offer him another understanding look. But when Greg glanced up at Don, he knew that was not going to happen.

Don was drenched in anger. He was shaking hard, trying to control it, but it didn't work. There was only one thing he wanted to do to this man sitting in front of him, tied up and crying. He ran out of the room, grabbed the camera, and prepared to do the one thing he had told himself that he would not do under any circumstances unless matters got very desperate.

And right now, he _desperately _wanted to inflict as much pain as he possibly could upon this man, no boy, sitting before him.

* * *

Catherine couldn't stand it. They couldn't do anything for Greg. Of course, everyone had found some busy work relating to his case, to make themselves feel useful. To feel like they were doing something to help their poor, young friend. 

Catherine had found herself doing these meaningless tasks herself, but later gave up on them. She wasn't giving up hope though. Actually, it was the exact opposite because the kidnapper was showing much different signs than he had been showing previously.

They were now closing in on the third day of Greg being abducted, and the kidnapper had called once everyday, right around noon. Today was different. It was now four o'clock and they hadn't gotten anything from him.

Of course, this change could be good or bad, but Catherine was hoping it was a good thing. They desperately needed good things.

Catherine heard a swift movement by the door, and as she turned to look at who was now standing in the room, she heard Warrick's voice.

"Catherine, I think we just got another tape," he said quickly, still standing in the doorway waiting for Catherine to get up and follow him to the front desk.

It was the same story as before. A random person had had a package delivered to them, and upon seeing who it was addressed to, brought it up to the crime lab. This time it was a rather young looking woman with curly red hair. And she had not seen the person who had delivered it. Same old same old.

Brass was up there this time as well, and he ordered some cops to further interrogate the woman while they went up to the package.

It was the same box as before and like last time, Catherine put on some gloves and opened the it. And, there was another DVD inside. However, the title on this one was different than the one before. Neatly written on the surface was:

**Its Time**

Warrick felt himself tense at the sight of the title. It's time? Time for what? Catherine also looked nervous.

Warrick had never been real close to Greg. Not like Nick or Sara. But he did respect the man. He had seen Greg for so many years and had watched him grow into an amazingly good CSI. The last thing he wanted was for Greg to die.

Catherine stood up with the DVD, leaving the box. She looked around and told someone to get the box to Jackie or Hodges, but both would need to see it at some point. She then exchanged a look with Warrick, saying that it was time to watch it.

"I heard about the last one. You guys got anything yet," Brass came up behind the CSI's and spoke gravely.

"Not yet, but apparently 'it's time'," Catherine answered, still looking at the DVD.

"For what?" Brass asked.

"I don't know," Catherine said and then began walking down the hall towards the labs.

Warrick and Brass quickly followed her, both nervous and anxious at the same time. Maybe this was the big break they needed! Or maybe it was just another horrific video of Greg being beaten half to death. Or what if it was death this time? What if it was _time _to finish Greg off?

Warrick shoved the thought from his mind. Now was not the time for that. If the tape gave him reason to think otherwise, he would deal with that then, however now he would remain optimistic.

Just as they were nearing the AV Lab, Grissom, Nick, and Sara came flying around the other corner, looking extremely excited.

"We've got a lead," Nick shouted out, clearly excited and hopeful now.

"We've got another tape," Warrick replied, sounding much different than Nick.

Grissom, Nick and Sara all seemed to slow down after this was said, but only for a moment.

"What do we do first," Brass asked.

"Well, we have a person waiting on us. Supposedly she saw Greg get into an SUV about the same time we know he left," Sara said, getting right to the point.

"Yeah, and she also mentioned that she could give us a description of the man that was with Greg," Nick added, sounding excited again.

"Ok, there's no point in all of us going to question her. There could be very valuable information from each thing, so lets split up and each of us take one."

They all agreed that this was a good plan, and were basically in the same groups as before. However, Brass and Nick traded places meaning that Nick, Catherine, and Warrick would watch the video while Grissom, Sara, and Brass went to question the woman. They all quickly parted and headed to their destinations.

"When will she be here," Brass inquired as they walked quickly through the halls.

"Any minute," Grissom answered, not taking the time to look at Brass when he answered.

Finally, they reached the waiting area where they saw a very beautiful young woman sitting in the chairs. As they entered, she stood up and greeted them with a small nod.

They motioned for her to sit down again, and then all of them each sat down and started immediately.

"So you think you saw Greg Sanders," Grissom asked, getting straight to the point.

"Oh yes, that was the man I saw on the news," the woman answered confidently.

Sara looked at her suspiciously.

"And what were you doing when you saw him? How are so confident it was Greg, Miss..?"

Apparently sensing Sara's suspicions, the woman sat up taller and answered quickly.

"Donoway. Carol Donoway, " she answered nervously. "I was walking past the Crime Lab on my way to the bus stop, and saw him and… I just know that it was him," she answered.

It might have just been her, but Sara could have sworn she saw Carol turn red a little. Brass must have also found her statement questionable because he immediately spoke up.

"You just know that it's him? Do you have anything more definitive?"

This time Carol blushed, there was no doubt about it.

"Well, I… I know it was him because… well because when I saw him…. I kind of…" She rolled her eyes and reddened more. "I thought he was really cute. And, and when I saw him on the news, I recognized him immediately."

Sara couldn't help but smile. She had always seen Greg as a little brother, but he was honestly a very good-looking guy.

"Alright ma'am, thank you very much. I'm going to have a sketch artist come in and you tell him as much as you can about the man you saw with Greg, can you do that for me," Grissom asked politely, and stood up. Everyone else followed his lead and Carol nodded importantly.

"Great. Thank you very much," with that, Grissom began to walk back towards the Av Lab.

"Maybe we can compare her description to the people on the tape of the hallway, see if we find this guy," Sara said quickly, walking fast to keep up with Grissom and Brass.

Grissom simply nodded at her statement. That was the plan.

Once they reached Archie's lab and entered, the sight they were greeted with was like getting a bullet to the chest. Catherine was openly crying, her hands pressed tightly to her face, her body shaking with her sobs. Nick, Warrick, and Archie all sat staring at the screen with a horrified look. They were all looking extremely pale and sick. Nick had silent tears running down his face and Warrick just had his hand over his mouth.

Seeing his team like this was nothing compared to what the screen showed his youngest CSI going through. Now everyone was staring at the screen, watching Greg be whipped. Only this time, he was literally _hanging _from the ceiling by his wrists.

His body was covered in blood, cuts, bruises, gashes… anything and everything. His head hung painfully on his chest, but it was obvious he was still conscious. This was a relief because they could be sure he was still alive, but then again, they would have preferred him be unconscious for so bad a beating. Every time the whip struck him, his body clenched, but soon he seemed to stop reacting to anything. This scared everyone watching.

Finally the man stopped beating Greg. They watched him turn to the camera and Greg fell relatively limp behind him. Deep down they all prayed for him to move, to do something to tell them he was still ok. As though he heard their prayers, he slowly, painfully tried to lift his head, but eventually gave up and instead moved his arms. He had to have been only about a foot off the ground and it was killing him.

Their attention returned to the man though, who was still staring directly into the camera. Everyone held their breath as he began to speak. He was apparently out-of-breath from being so physical with Greg, which made everyone's blood run hot.

"_Well, now it is time. Time to finally reveal why have done this,_" he motioned to Greg hanging behind him who was trying to stabilize his breathing. "_And you may be surprised to know that this will also be the first time Greg will find out the reason he is here. Though, he has discovered that it has to do with my wife. You see, fifteen years ago, my wife was murdered. And after merely a week, the man who did it was found, and thrown in jail. Much later on, the death penalty became an option for him, one that strongly supported._"

The man tuned back to Greg and dug his hand into Greg's ribs, causing him to scream in pain.

"_And because our justice system is just so very excellent, his case never received a decision on the death penalty until about two years ago,_" his tone became very angry. "_It was rejected. Now, as I mentioned before, I strongly supported him being executed. You see, he not only murdered my wife, but he raped her and then buried her alive. He deserved to die. Now, this story all adds up to the reason why I have invited dear Greg here. I want that man dead. Why would I go to such extremes to do it? Why couldn't I just try to smuggle a bomb or something into the prison? And why would I go after a CSI?"_

He went off the camera for a moment, then reappeared with a chair and sat down.

"_Well, as you can imagine, I've had two years to plan all of this out and after thinking about everyone involved in this, the CSI's seemed to be the most innocent. After all, you guys found the bad guy, which I appreciate. None of you had anything to do with the judge's rulings. I know it seems wrong to go after the innocent party, but that's just the point. My wife was the sweetest, most innocent and caring person that ever walked this hell called earth. It only seemed fitting to take her equal in order to make my point. And I happen to know that Greg is a sweetheart. He has just been through quite a bit, which obvious makes him angry," _he shot a nasty look over at Greg.

"_And then you guys have contacts with all the people that can help me get what I want, so it's all perfect, you see. And now we come down to my demands. I want this man to be brought to me. I want to kill him myself._"

Everyone in the room was shocked. Everything that the man had just said was shocking in itself, but his demands were outrageous.

"_Now, I know what you all are thinking; if he is brought to me, that means that my location will be given away. And my own death would be the only thing to keep me from going to jail myself. But you see, I don't care about that. I know I will be found eventually, so what's the point in trying to prolong the wait? Like I said, all I want is to kill the man that took my wife from me. So, at the very end of this video, I will give you the name of the man I want, and then you will find out who I am, and where I live. You will also discover that I have a son, who is in fact here. However, he has been held here against his own will, and I expect him to be set free. Upon hearing what he has done for your little friend here, you will find that demand much more reasonable._"

The man stood up and walked over to Greg again who hadn't been moving for some time now. He looked him over and then looked to the camera.

"_He seems to be asleep. But he is still alive. And he will remain that way as long as I get what I want. Once I kill that man, I will surrender to you all, and you will be able to send Greg to the hospital as he needs it. And now, I will tell you the name of the man that should be dead. Ray Boree. Get him and bring him to me or else Gregory dies."_

The screen went black. Everyone was upset, but determined.

"Get Ray Boree's records, find out who this bastard is, and call for a SWAT team," Grissom demanded.

Immediately, Brass took the job and rushed out of the room.

"What… what are we going to do about Ray? We can't actually get him out of jail to be killed."

Catherine choked out, still crying.

But Nick wasn't paying attention. Instead, he was thinking about that name. Ray Boree. He knew that name. He had heard it somewhere. But where? He searched his mind as hard as he could. And then it hit him.

"Wait!" He yelled out. Everyone turned to him.

"Ray Boree. He's dead."

Shock again hit everyone hard.

"What?" Sara yelled out.

"He… He's dead," Nick repeated. "It was in the newspaper the other day. He died in prison after a riot or something. I saw it right before you guys called me to tell me about Greg being kidnapped."

Everyone took this information hard.

"Well, he obviously doesn't know about this. At least, he didn't when he made this video," Grissom said solemnly.

"Well, maybe it's not a bad thing," Warrick spoke up, causing everyone to look at him questionably. "He wanted the man dead, and he's dead."

"Yeah… yeah maybe.. But he could also take it the wrong way and… and.."

Nick trailed off, not wanting to actually say "kill Greg".

They all nodded in agreement and then Brass came flying into the room.

"Donald Everett. His name is Donald Everett, wife Marley Everett, son Benjamin Everett. Ray Boree murdered Marley Everett on November 1, 1991. Got his address right here."

"Let's go then," Grissom said as he began walking out the door. The problem of the only thing that Don wanted was dead would have to be addressed later, as for now, they needed to get going.

Everyone followed Grissom out of the lab and began their journey to the last hope they had of getting Greg back alive.

* * *

**A/N: **A lot to think about, huh? Yeah, the thing I warned you about mainly was the weird little dream. The camel was obviously symbolic of Greg and I deliberately cut the dream off before the camel overcomes it's problems, to leave off the ending of if and how Greg deals with everything. So, I don't know. It was different, but ultimately I like it. I hope you guys did too. 

OH!! I bet a lot of you didn't remember that newspaper from earlier in the story! But it's there in chapter 3 if any of you want to check for yourselves. Haha, I put that there not knowing if I would use it again and I did.. Yay for me for continuity!

And.. Finally the reason. The big 'why' has been answered. I thought it was kind of different from the usual reasons people have in their fics. Another attempt to be original.

And last but not least, I will not have another update until after the first of the year because I'm leaving for South Carolina Friday and will stay there until Monday. But the drive from where I live in Florida up to SC is a long drive so I will write in the car hopefully. Alright, enough talking.

Oh, and just as a little fun fact, the date of Marley Everett's death is my birth date. The year and everything. (To relieve you of doing the math, yes, I am 15 years old…)

Review if you can!


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: **Ok so, this one is pretty short, but oh well. I have to say that I didn't really have the same urgency to post this one as I did with the others, because I got so few comments on the last one. I know, I know. It's wrong to think that way, but I worked the hardest on that last chapter, and it got about half the comments that the previous one got. I'm not blaming any of you though. There are only two possibilities: 1) It wasn't as great as I was thought it was or 2) you guys just didn't feel like commenting. Both are fine because I still got this one out, however short it may be and plan on having the next one out very soon. I want to finish this one soon because Christmas Break is almost over and it will be a lot harder to update so.. You may be getting chapters more frequently this week.

**Same 'ol same 'ol: **Don't own CSI unfortunately, just Don, Ben and that old lady

**Warnings: **None I don't think other than it's pretty short.

Ok, happy readings!

* * *

Well, he had definitely screwed up big time. After he had blown up at Don, Don had blown right back up at him. Only, Don had a clear advantage and a much more severe temper. Greg had gotten very upset, but he would had never been able to do what Don did to him.

After his yelling match, Greg was temporarily left alone and when Don returned, he was holding the infamous camera which meant only one thing. And every step Don took radiated hate, anger. Greg wasn't sure what was going to happen, but he did know that it was going to be far worse than anything he had been through yet.

In one swift moment, Don had thrown the camera into it's position, turned it on, and was breathing into Greg's face within a matter of seconds. Greg, bring mentally and physically exhausted stayed still, waiting for it to happen, whatever it was.

Without any warning at all, a wet cloth was suddenly placed over his mouth, and being caught completely off guard, he took deep breaths through the cloth. The effects were immediate: his world started spinning and slowly his surroundings blurred, then disappeared completely.

When he woke up, he kept his eyes closed, feeling unbearably exhausted. He didn't want to move a muscle. Then, the pain came flooding back in, however, there was something else. Something that wasn't quite right, but he couldn't put his finger on it exactly. He stayed still, just listening to the silence.

After a few minutes, his mind started to clear a little and this weird feeling he was having was becoming a bigger problem. What was it exactly? He mentally went over his body parts, checking to see if he could feel them correctly. Legs, fine. Stomach, fine. Head, fine. Arms…. Arms?

It was then he noticed that his arms felt very weird. Actually, arms and shoulders. They felt, numb maybe? Slowly, opened his eyes. He was still in his room, the door closed, but he was looking at his room from a completely different point of view. He was now directly across from the door, not to the left of it. And… he was looking at it from a much higher angle.

_Oh God… _

The numbness in his arms rushed away and was replaced with excruciating pain. He knew exactly where he was as he remembered the chains he had seen hanging from the ceiling the first night he had arrived at the house. His muscles in his arms were being stretched to the absolute limit, his shoulders were exploding, his mind automatically started to cloud again due to the amount of pain his body was experiencing.

A few minutes later, he became vaguely aware of someone entering the room, and through the haze of pain he was feeling, he knew it was Don back to record all of this.

At this thought, anger erupted through him, slightly easing the pain enough to lift his head and stare at Don. Greg knew that hanging by his wrists was just the beginning. This man had so much more planned, and when it happened, Greg had no intention to be cowering away from it. He knew his body couldn't handle much more and therefore figured he would be dying, so he planned on looking this man in the eyes when it happened.

And, just as expected, Don came at him with all he had. And Greg took it. Not always quietly, but he took it none-the-less.

After the what seemed like hours of endless beating and torture, it stopped. He couldn't think, he could hardly breathe, and the pain had reached it's breaking point and Greg felt like he was exploding. He could some-what make out what Don was saying, and knew that Don was not talking to him. He caught bits and pieces of what was being said:

"_Why I have done this…. I want this man dead… I want to kill him myself… The name.."_

Greg wanted so badly to hear all of this. He, after all, had been dealing with all of this for some unknown reason, and when he finally got the opportunity to find out the reason he was going through this hell, he was going to miss it because he was passing out.

He fought it for as long as he possibly could, but it was no use. He couldn't really hear much anyways, and the darkness gathering and the sides of his mind were so enticing. The thought of not feeling, at least not as much was making him want to pass out. The thought of being able to just leave this world for whatever amount of time sounded more pleasing than hearing why he was here in the first place.

So, he closed his weary eyes, let his body fall entirely limp. His very last thought was of heaven, and he wondered if he would be waking up there. The thought soothed him more than he could have ever hoped for. He decided that no matter where he woke up, and in what state he was in, he would be ok. And with that, he allowed himself to peacefully slip away into the inviting unknown.

* * *

His heart was beating a mile a minute. This was the fourth time it had ever beat this fast. The first time had been for Holly Gribbs, the second for Nick, the third for Jim, and now his heart went out for Greg. He thought back to his conversation with him he had had just the day before. It had seemed like so long ago. True, it was technically well over 24 hours since the call, but none of it mattered now. He wanted to talk to Greg again, and he knew that was going to be a challenge.

First and for most, Greg was now in very bad condition. That was clear from the video Grissom and the team had seen a few hours ago, and because the video was not live, they had no way of knowing just how long ago the video was made. So, if Greg was still alive, then it would still be hell getting through Don without the one thing he wanted.

But Warrick had made a point earlier. Don wanted Ray dead, and he was dead. And then again, Nick was also right in assuming that this information may send Don over the edge knowing that he can't kill the man himself.

Whatever was going to happen would happen, and Grissom would deal with it when it did. For now, he focused on getting to that address. And that same thought was on everyone's mind. In Grissom's car, Catherine and Sara were sitting on the edge of their seats, wanting so badly to reach Greg as soon as possible. Nick, Warrick and Brass all occupied a cop car, and they were all followed closely by a dozen of cop cars.

They raced through the Vegas strip and then continued down a long road taking them to a small neighborhood a couple of miles away from Vegas. They were nice homes that were all rather large, and given their size and location, had to have been pretty expensive. And through the darkness that covered the neighborhood, the lawns and cars were all nicely kept.

It wasn't exactly the place one would expect to find such an evil and twisted man, but very few things surprised the CSI's anymore.

They went barreling through the deserted nighttime streets, scoping the houses for #7049 where they hoped to find their guy and Greg alive.

And then they saw it. Grissom made a sharp turn into the driveway, and Brass and the others followed his lead. Immediately, they all jumped out of their vehicles with their guns drawn, pointing at the house.

All around them, people were slowly starting to emerge from their homes, tired and confused. A police officer was sent to all of the houses that were directly by the Everett's home to make sure that all was safe there. As one officer made his way to the home on the left- hand side of the suspect's house, a woman emerged looking distraught. After a brief heated conversation with the policeman, the elderly woman came dashing over to Brass.

"Sir! Sir!?"

Brass quickly turned to the woman, and ushered her behind the cop cars.

"Ma'am, this is a crime scene, I'm going to have to ask you to…"

"But this is Donald Everett's house! He has a sick child in there!"

Brass stopped dead in his tracks, and Warrick, who was standing nearby joined Brass in finding out what all of this was about. If there was a child in there, let alone a sick child, the situation would change.

"Wait ma'am, what?" Warrick asked.

"Ben is sick! And that's the Everett's house! You've made a mistake. I've known them for years!"

"Ma'am, please calm down. Mr. Everett has kidnapped an officer and we are sure of it. Now, unless there is any information you can tell us, you're going to have to wait behind the caution tape," Brass started to lead her behind the tape when she turned around.

"Wait… I.. Don? Oh…" she paused looking slightly disgusted and frightened, "Yesterday, I heard a lot of banging around and yelling so I came over and Don said that they accidentally broke things.. But I thought I saw blood towards one of the doors, but I didn't think.. No, that still can't be.. Not Don... Oh no. Oh no, no, no."

"Thank you very much ma'am," Warrick said, exchanging a look with Brass. They managed to get the woman behind the tape that was now up, and joined Grissom and the others.

"Brass, how are we going to go about this," Catherine asked frantically.

Brass was about to answer when he was cut off by another officer.

"Captain Brass, we saw some movement in the house, but no one has been seen."

"Where did you see the movement," Brass questioned.

"Right inside the front window," the officer answered, pointing to the large window in the front of the house.

"He knows we're here," Warrick said, placing his hands in his pocket.

"Not really a surprise. We have like a dozen cops here, of course he knows we're here," Sara said sounding a bit grouchy.

"Ok well, first things first," Brass interrupted and turned to the officer again. "Get men on every door and window, and surround the house. Then, we get in contact with Mr. Everett. Go."

The officer quickly turned away and began barking out orders to his fellow officers. Brass turned back to Grissom and the others.

"And what are we going to do when he realizes that we don't have Boree," Catherine asked suddenly.

No one said anything at first, not really knowing what to say. That was the main question that no one had wanted to think about. What _were_ they going to do?

"Well, we can't fake it," Nick said quietly. "He'll know that it isn't Ray."

"What about negotiation? Why not make him _think_ we have Boree waiting at the station or something, and convince him to come out," Sara offered, sounding hopeful.

"I don't think he'll go for that. He's smart and has nothing to lose anyway," Warrick said firmly.

"Well, he can't be expecting much, I mean, did he really think we were going to bring a convicted felon out to the streets just so he can be killed by another felon," Nick replied angrily. This whole thing was pissing him off. He just wanted to get Greg out now.

"No, I didn't really expect that at all," came a cold voice from the direction of the house.

Every whipped around and was now staring at Donald Everett himself. He was concealed by a screen door. Everyone raised their guns again, pointing directly at Don.

"I thought that there was a slight chance though, and decided to go for it. As you said young man, I have nothing to lose," he said with a twisted grin.

They all kept their guns steady on Don, wanting so badly to take him out right then and there.

"Come out with your hands up!" Brass shouted. Don just smiled again.

"Do you really think I'm going to give up that easily? No, I'm going to have a little fun. You all had one demand! Just one and you couldn't do that. Not even for little Gregory. So, if you guys are willing to trade a rapist and murder's life," his voice rose "for the life of an innocent young man, then it will be all of you that have to live with it. NOT ME!"

Don ended and began to turn away from the door.

"Wait!"

Don stopped, and faced them all again, particularly Grissom who had just yelled at him.

"Raymond Boree is dead. He died about four days ago during a riot at the prison," Grissom yelled out, with a hint of desperation in his voice. He had no idea what was about to happen, but he knew that something had to be done.

Don's reaction to this news was astonishment, but it quickly changed to something more like anger.

"You're lying! You think that's going to save Greg!? You're wrong!" He began to turn away again.

"It was in the newspaper on Tuesday," Nick screamed desperately.

Don didn't say anything. Instead, he turned away from them for the final time, and slammed the door behind him.

* * *

**Ending Notes(EN): Hmm? Is Greg dead? What's Don about to do? Haha… Don't know but the next one should be out soon. Comment if you can.. PS, the next one will be longer**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: **Alrighty well here's the next one. It's kind of short too, compared to some of my other ones. But oh well. You take what you can, right? Soooo, we're nearing the end and I'm kind of spreading them out a little.. Just to keep you guys interested. Anyways, thanks everyone for commenting and enjoy reading!

**Warnings: **Very little bad language. It's not bad, but it's there.

K, have fun!

* * *

Don slammed the door, not knowing what to think. There was no way that Ray Boree had died. No way possible. 

Then he remembered what that guy with the accent had said: it was in the Tuesday newspaper. Don rushed frantically around his house, shoveling through papers mounted up on his desks and tables.

He always read the news papers… surely he would have noticed if the one man that he despised more than anything in the world was dead. He grabbed any newspaper he could find, checked to see if the date was Tuesday, then skimmed through the pages. Finally, he found a newspaper marked: _Tuesday, January 2_He skimmed it as he had done all the others, but his eyes froze on a headline that read: _Criminal Dies in Prison Riot. _And right there, staring him in the face, was Raymond Boree.

Don stood frozen with his eyes glued to the paper, reading it through multiple times. They were right. Ray was dead.

_So what now, _Don thought. Everything he had just done in the past couple of days were all for nothing. Now, he had managed to get himself so deep in a hole that there was no way of getting out of it, not that he had expected otherwise, but he had hoped to taste the sweet revenge when he took the life of a man so evil. The man that took his wife and his son's mother.

_His son._

Don threw the paper down and then raced to Ben's room. What had he done? He ruined his son's life for nothing! He slung Ben's door open to find his son heavily sleeping in his bed. Don stopped and took in the sight. His son, the one last blood-relative of his beloved wife. How could he, the so-called father of this child, make him go through so much?

Ben had made it clear that he didn't want to go through with Don's plans, yet Don persisted. Told him that he had to do it for his mother. Eventually Don talked him into it, but then Ben had been desperately uncomfortable when it came to hurting the Sanders kid. He had begged for him to stop, but he didn't.

In fact, he went and knocked his son out. Gave him a _concussion_, for God's sake!

"_Don Everett, we repeat! Come out with your hands up!"_

The sound of the cop yelling on his megaphone snapped Don out of his trance. He ran into Ben's room and over to the bed where his son lay sleeping. He grabbed Ben's shoulders and shook them gently, afraid to further aggravate Ben's injury.

"Ben," Don whispered. "Benjamin, you have to wake up!"

Slowly, Ben moved a little then lifted his eyelids and was greeted by his father's terrified face. Ben's stomach froze.

Something was wrong. What?

His question was answered as he registered the blues and reds reflecting on his bedroom wall. The hunt was over. They knew what was going on in this house. Ben turned back to his father, horrorstruck.

"Dad… Dad no.. Oh my God dad… what," Ben fumbled through, sitting up.

Don shook his head…

"We have to get you out of here, Ben," Don answered, looking very upset at this realization.

Ben could not believe any of this. He knew that this moment was going to come eventually, but it was completely different not that it was actually here. He was scared beyond all reason, and the he knew that his life had been thrown away. Everything he had worked for, the pain he had to get over when his mom was murdered.. All of it was pointless now, and it was all because of his dad.

Ben stood up suddenly out of bed, and pushed his father away from him. He did not want to even look at the man that had ruined his life. Ben just walked out of his room, and let his feet carry him wherever.

He ended up in the one room that he despised. The room that he had watched a man get beaten so badly in. A man that did not deserve it. No person deserved what he had got, but this particular guy had already been through so much, and was still pleasant.

He rounded the corner into that room, and stopped dead in his tracks. Greg was now literally hanging from the ceiling in the chains that his father had promised him would only be used in an extreme emergency. That was even the beginning though.

Greg was now covered completely in blood. It dripped off his bare feet onto a growing puddle beneath him. He hung limply, not making any movement at all. The breath was knocked out of Ben instantly: _He's dead!_

But maybe not. Ben saw a tiny movement from Greg, so he rushed over to him and reached up to feel his neck. And he found what he so desperately wanted: a pulse. It wasn't very strong, but it was there.

"BEN!" Don screamed, bursting into the room! "Ben.. I… I had to Ben."

Ben looked at his father in disgust. The man was crying, it was a pathetic sight.

"You didn't have to do _any _of this," Ben said, his teeth grinding.

"I know," Don said quietly and hung his head.

Ben stared in disbelief. What? Ever since his dad had come up with the idea, he had had one reason that he stood proud on: to kill Ray Boree for his mother. What happened to that?

"What to you mean?"

Don increased his sobs.

"He's already dead!" He spit out, not looking his son in the eyes.

The words stumbled through Ben's head. That can't be right! That would mean everything… all of this was for nothing. He stared at his dead, completely shocked. Don looked up at him suddenly.

"We have to get you out of here!"

"No… no Dad, we have to get _him _out of here," Ben pointed towards Greg.

Don said nothing, so Ben continued loudly.

"He's not doing well, Dad! If he dies here, the charges change completely!" Ben yelled.

Don stayed still, thinking about everything. But mostly about what his son had just said. He thought very quickly about all of his options, and their consequences, and then made up his mind.

* * *

The waiting was killing them. Nick wanted so badly for all the officers to break the doors down, and run in there himself and get Greg. But at the moment, the plan was to wait a little longer to see if there was any other alternative. And Nick didn't completely disagree with this decision. The fact was, rushing in there like that might result in the kidnapper killing Greg in the heat of the moment. So now they had to wait. 

The guns stayed drawn at the screen door, and some at the surrounding windows, just in case.

Sara had never felt so unsettled. She, like everyone else, did not want to wait. She wanted Greg out now. She would even settle for knowing that he was still alive. Anything other than this horrible waiting.

She stopped and corrected herself; at least they hadn't been told that Greg was dead. At least not yet, and hopefully not ever. The good news was that they hadn't heard any gunshots, meaning that Don might not have taken the news of Ray Boree's death as bad as they thought he might. The bad news was, they were still waiting and had no earthly clue what _was _going on.

"We got some movement behind the door!" Someone shouted, making Sara tighten her grip on the gun's trigger. Everyone was now staring expectantly towards the door, hoping something good was about to happen, but never letting their guards down.

The door opened up, and out came a guy being held in an awkward position by someone standing behind him. It definitely wasn't Don in front, but it wasn't Greg either..

"Benjamin!" Mrs. Mason screamed from behind the caution tape.

And then everyone realized that this Ben guy was being held from behind by Don with a gun pointing at Ben's head. It was obvious that Ben was in distress and was fighting to get away from Don.

"Stop! You can't do this! Just let him go! Let him go!" the boy screamed and put up a decent fight, but Don held on steadily.

"This boy is innocent!" Don screamed "Say he will be freed! Say it or you never see Greg Sanders again!"

Everyone's heart skipped a beat.

"He's freed, no charges! Now let him go, and come down here yourself!" Brass yelled back to Don.

Don lingered in the same position for a moment, then in one quick movement, he pushed his son down the stairs into the mass of officers below. Everyone gasped in shock at the sudden movements, and before any of them recovered from it, Don had entered the house again with the door closed.

Immediately, EMT's rushed to Ben's side and took him to one of the waiting ambulances. Everyone kept their guns steady, but exchanged looks.

Catherine didn't know what to think now. The boy was out, which left Don and Greg in there alone, Greg completely defenseless and in very bad shape. And here they were, practically back to square one. Waiting on this man to do something.

"Brass! Do we just wait again," she asked quietly.

Brass gave no response, jut kept his gun drawn at the house. Grissom did the same. He knew something was about to happen, and there weren't a whole lot of options. But he didn't know which road Don would take. All they could do was wait for some kind of sign or anything to give them a clue as to what road _they _should take.

Just then, a gun shot rang out through the house. Everyone gasped, some ducked. Grissom and Brass quickly looked at each other. Don had chosen his road, and now they knew what to do.

"Go, go, go!!" Brass screamed and dozens of police officers broke into the house and swarmed it's insides.

Following behind them was Brass, Grissom, Catherine, Nick, Warrick, and Sara, guns drawn and ready. However, they weren't sure they were completely ready for what they would see inside.

Outside of the house was a different scene. Ben had jumped out of the ambulance the gun had gone off. _No, _he thought to himself, _there was absolutely no way. _Other on-lookers stood shocked with their hands over their mouths.

Inside, shouts of "_Clear!_" could be heard from every direction. Something or someone had just been shot, but where was everyone?

Then, everyone froze when "_Man down! Gunshot.. It's the suspect!!" _was screamed out.

_The suspect? _That means….

A door was slung open, revealing Greg. Everyone gaped at the sight of him even though the CSI's had seen a tape of him like this already.

Although, it was completely different when they saw him in person. It was _real._ They had known that the tapes were real, but it was all on tv, which gave it a more surreal feeling. But seeing him live like this, just hanging there blood covering every inch of him, it changed everything.

And the biggest difference now, was that there was a fresh wound in him. A knife wound. It was in his side, and was bleeding freely.

"WE NEED A MEDIC IN HERE NOW!" Grissom shouted.

Right away a coupe of shocked and sick looking cops raced away, leaving the rest in here with Greg.

Nick slowly approached him, but did not touch him. Everyone else seemed afraid of him. Like they didn't want hurt him by just looking at him.

But a lump appeared in all of their throats when they saw him move a little.

* * *

There was the most peculiar sensation within him. It was very odd. What was even more odd was the fact that his side felt the weirdest. 

Something had just happened, that much he was sure of. But everything else was just a blur. He could kind of hear voices. People talking in rushed tones, but it was all too hard to make out.

He started to feel uncomfortable. And then some pain made it's way into him. Then more. And then some more. It was all slowly coming to him, and it was not welcomed.

He felt so heavy. He felt like there were walls pushing in on him on every side. The feeling was horrible. He wanted out of it all.

"_I… I think he just moved!_"

That he had been able to make out. And the voice sounded so familiar. But who? He heard it say something again, and felt this immeasurable sense of joy shoot through him, though he had no idea why, or who this person even was.

Then he heard a completely different voice.

"_Oh my God… Greg? Greg can you hear me? Greg!"_

There was no doubt in him mind about that accent. Nick!

Everything rushed back to him all at once, but it was all ok now, because Nick was here! And by the sound of it, they all were!

He tried desperately to open his eyes. It was so hard. His entire body revolted against moving at all. But from somewhere deep inside of him, he found the strength and slowly opened his eyes to no more than slits.

And there they were, all staring at him. Some of their eyes were filled with tears, the others just looked like they were in pain. That was sad. He didn't want to see his friends like this.

He tried to say something, but found that he couldn't. He took a deep breath, but stopped suddenly at the amount of pain that shout through him as he tempted to take that breath. He moved suddenly at the pain, and felt even more pain dart through him again. He began to panic. Every move he made, more pain came. Then, he couldn't really breathe.

He was going to die.

He started struggling against his chains, even though the pain was unbearable.

"_Oh God! No.. Greg it's ok! It's ok! We're here! There's a medic coming, just hold on!"_

Someone was shouting but it was so hard to hear them.

"_Where's the damn medic!"_

The last sight he saw before fading out again into the dark abyss was two additional men rushing into the room, and to his side, saying things. He heard things like: "_Major blood loss_", "_Stab wound major source_", and "_We need to intubate!! Get him down_!!"

And then, he was gone.

* * *

**AN: **YAY!!! He's been found!! But will he be ok?? And what does 'gone' mean? Haha… we'll see. I hope you guys have liked it so far. The rest from here will all be down hill. There will at the very least be 2 more chapters, possibly (and probably) more. But we'll have to see. Sometimes I find great stopping places and go ahead and leave everything else for another chapter, and sometimes and just spill it all in one gigantic chapter. So, who knows? But I won't leave you all hanging. Much love readers! 


	11. Chapter 11

**AN**: Man I am on a roll! Another one! I guess because I'm so close to the end and I just want to get them out and over with. Well, anyways here it is..

**Warnings: **Despite the fact that I have been watching medical shows for a good portion of my life (ER was my first TV show obsession), I'm still no expert with the stuff. So, I tried to use as little as possible, but it was still needed. So to all of you who know more about medicine and medical procedures: I'm sorry to disappoint. I tried to keep it as realistic as possible based on the info I already know. So.. Just bare with me. Thanks ; Oh.. and a little more questionable language.

Enjoy!

* * *

Everything was rushing by a mile-a-minute, Nick couldn't hold on. It was all too much, seeing Greg like that, knowing that he could die at any minute. He didn't want to be there, and yet he couldn't have willingly gone anywhere else. He _needed _to be here for his friend. But it was so hard. The medic was slinging out words that he only half understood. Most of it just flew over his head, not really because he didn't know all that medical jargon, but that he was not focusing on anything other than his broken friend. It was obvious that the stab wound was the biggest problem at the moment, but Nick couldn't understand why it happened. Greg hadn't been stabbed on the video they had seen. Maybe Don had tried to finish him off, and then freaked out about it and tried to kii himself. Bastard, Nick thought to himself. 

Nick watched as the one medic and an officer gently, yet quickly got Greg down, his body limp as it was relived of it's chains. They laid him gently on the floor, trying not to move his neck.

"We need a gurney," the medic shouted.

Nick stayed where he was, not wanting to leave Greg at all, but Sara decided to go find the needed gurney.

She was almost relieved to leave the room, or _torture chamber _was a much better name for it. She ran out of the room and around the nearest corner where she saw a pair of medics loading a man on a gurney. It was the kidnapper, and she immediately questioned why _he _got two medics, while Greg only got one.

"We… We need a gurney now!" Sara shouted at the medics.

She watched as the two medics looked at each other quickly, then back at Sara.

"We don't have one!" One of them yelled.

Sara stopped momentarily, then her anger took over her.

"Then where the hell is one," she yelled back.

"There isn't one! We only had two ambulances, the other ones gone. We have to go!" They started to push the man, who Sara knew was Don the kidnapper, but she grabbed the gurney.

"AND YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING TO TAKE THIS ASSHOLE BEFORE GREG?!!?" She screamed, and just then Nick and Warrick came around the corner with a very impatient and worried look.

"Ma'am! I'm sorry, but we have to take whoever is in worse condition!" The other medic yelled, then pushed past Sara.

This was more than they could handle. Warrick and Nick ran after them, out of the house and down the driveway. Right after they pushed the man on the gurney into the ambulance, Nick grabbed the closest medic's arm and pulled him out of the ambulance.

"You better figure something out now, because the innocent man is in there is dying," he said quickly and fiercely.

The medic stopped, looked at Warrick and Nick, then back into the ambulance.

"I.. I… We just phoned for another ambulance" he stuttered, then tried to return to the ambulance. But this time, Warrick grabbed him and pulled him to his face.

"Get some supplies and we'll take him in the car, but he sure as hell is not waiting for another ambulance. He's bleeding freely from a stab wound," Warrick said, in the most demanding tone Nick had ever heard come from him.

Warrick's harsh words seemed to convince the EMT, because he ran back into the back of the ambulance and grabbed a back broad handed it over to Warrick, then stuffed his arms with different things, and practically threw them over to Nick. Without any further words, he closed the ambulance doors from the inside, and then the ambulance was off, it's sirens blaring.

People stood shocked all around them, but Nick and Warrick wasted no time, they immediately took off at a sprint back into the room where Greg was at.

"There are no ambulances. We have to get him there ourselves," Nick shouted.

Everyone in the room gaped at these words, but the medic seemed the most worried about the idea.

"I, I can't do that. We have nothing to care for him." The medic blurted out, but still kept his eyes on Greg and his hands doing different things with him.

"No, we have some things," Warrick said quickly and emptied their arms of the different medical supplies.

The medic stared at the supplies, then at everyone's hopeful looks in the room.

"Look, if he can wait about ten to fifteen minutes, then he can stay, but otherwise we will take him to the hospital, with or without you," Grissom said finally, kneeling at Greg's side but staying out of the medic's way.

The medic looked back at Greg, felt his pulse, then turned back to Grissom.

"Ok, we take him in the car. Help me out," he said, and pushed something into Grissom's hand.

"Squeeze this every 5 seconds noy too hard or quick, you two, help me get him onto the board after I get the neck brace on," the medic said, taking charge of the situation. Warrick and Nick got ready to help place Greg on the board. They watched as the EMT placed the large red neck brace on Greg's neck, and then looked up at the two men.

They came in quickly and helped him get Greg on the board.

"OK we'll need a big car, police escort, and you two women will be with me, got it?" The medic barked out. Everyone nodded.

"OK GO GO!!"

Warrick and Nick, holding the back board started to move quickly out of the house, and Grissom did his best to keep up with them, as well as focusing on squeezing the bag every five seconds. Sara, Catherine, and the EMT ran before them, moving people out of the way, clearing a path to the CSI Denali.

"JIM! Get in the car and take us to Desert Palms!" Catherine shouted, opening the back door of the Denali and made sure that it was empty for Greg and the medic.

Brass ran to his cop car, and turned on the lights. As Warrick and Nick placed Greg in the back of the Denali, the EMT jumped in and took over Grissom's job. Catherine and Sara got into the back of the Denali with the medic, and started doing as he said. Grissom ran to the front of the Denali and got it ready to drive. And off they went.

Nick and Warrick ran to Brass' cop car and jumped in, and they also started down the street and in front of the Denali to clear the path of all oncoming cars.

They were now flying down the long road they had come down hours before, but now they had Greg. That made things better, even though they were unsure of how long they would be able to keep him.

Grissom focused solely on driving, knowing that the last thing they needed was to get in a crash going the speed they were, with a very unstable Greg in the back. However, a small part of him was also listening to the EMT, who was still barking out orders to Catherine and Sara. As long as he didn't hear anything like "_We lost his pulse", _things were going alright. Grissom turned his attention back to the road and the bumper of Brass's car.

In the corner if his eye, he could see both Nick and Warrick turning around in their seats to get a better view of the contents of the Denali. Grissom couldn't help but find this slightly amusing, given the situation. It made him think of two little kids trying to get glimpse of a movie star, or maybe even a Christmas present.

In the back of the Denali, Catherine was bumping up and down, trying to pay attention to what the EMT, named Tony, was saying. She managed of course, but it was hard to focus every time she looked at Greg. He was unnaturally pale, even under all the blood. His eyes were closed and his body limp.

"Dammit! I'm losing breath sounds!" The medic screamed, causing Catherine and Sara's heart to skip a beat.

"HOW MUCH LONGER GIL?" Catherine screamed from the back,

Grissom was scared now, but answered steadily.

"We're almost there! Just one minute!" He replied, keeping his eyes focused on the road.

"We need to get him out of here now," Tony said under his breath.

A minute later, the Denali screeched to a halt and a medical team that was waiting at the emergency entrance threw the door open and just like that, Greg was whisked away.

Everyone had gotten out of there vehicles now, and watched as he disappeared into the white building. They stood there, and caught their breath, something they had been holding for the last couple of hours.

It was then they noticed that they were all covered in Greg's blood. It was so unreal to them all. None of them panicked at the sight of their blood soaked clothes and skin, just stared at themselves. Everything that they had just seen and done rushed through their minds. Then, they knew it was time to go face the next phase of the entire ordeal. And possibly, the most important.

He had survived everything up until this point, and from here on out, his survival was all up to his doctors, and his own attitude. They all knew Greg was strong, but even the strongest person has their breaking point. The point at which they cannot take anymore, and just stop trying and allow themselves to just go along with the ride.

Deep down they hoped Greg hadn't reached that point.

While Brass and another police officer moved the Denali and cop car, the remaining CSI's started their walk into the building, not knowing what to expect, but all hoping for the best.

* * *

Two hours. Two long hours of waiting. The same waiting that they had been having to endure for about the past week. Warrick sat quietly in the same place he had been for all two hours. He looked around at his friends all spread out across the waiting room, looking so tired and exhausted. Luckily, they had all been given scrubs in exchange for the blood soaked clothes, as they had all refused to leave the hospital until they got even a little news on what was going on. 

The only thing they knew at this point was that Greg had been red-lined to the OR, and the only reason they knew this was because they saw him being rushed to an elevator and heard the doctors suggest to them to go onto the third floor and wait there. Once they got up there, they discovered for themselves that it was the OR waiting room they were now in, as apposed to the ER waiting room.

Other than that, they had got nothing for the past two hours. And after just the first hour, they had given up in their attempts to harass information from the passing doctors and random hospital workers. They had all noticed the difference in the doctors now as they walked past the waiting room. They all sped up and didn't make any contact with them.

So now, out of exhaustion and the knowledge that they had no other choice, they all relaxed as best they could.

Warrick noticed Sara's puffy red eyes recovering from crying earlier starting to droop. He wanted her to go to sleep. He was sure none of them had really gotten any real sleep for the past few days, and if one of them got the opportunity to sleep, then by all means, sleep away.

Catherine had spread out across about three of the waiting room chairs. She wasn't going to be going to sleep anytime soon, that much she knew. It definitely was not because she wasn't tired, but it was because there was too much going on in her hear right now. Every time she closed her eyes, the pictures of the night, graphic pictures of seeing Greg flickered through her mind like an old movie. She couldn't bare to see it all over again though she knew it was as bad as it was only because they had no clue how Greg was doing. Once she was able to see him again, the pain of what she had seen would ease significantly. Or so she hoped.

She looked over at Grissom, and debated what to do about him. He was in the same position he had been in since they had been moved up to the OR waiting room. He sat fairly straight in his chair, staring out at nothing. He had the vacant Grissom look that he always got when he was thinking too hard about something. But Catherine answered her question quickly when she remembered just how hard it had been to get Grissom to come back to reality long enough to change out of his clothes soaked with Greg's blood, and into scrubs. And even now, he hadn't washed off all of the blood from his hands and arms.

However, this didn't worry her too much. This was Grissom, after all. He reacted to situations differently than most people. She was however worried about Nick. He had found himself a chair off in the corner of the waiting room, away from everyone else. They had all noticed it, but decided not to pursue it, knowing that all of this was different for him. They thought it was best to give him some space, and besides, none of them really wanted to talk about anything right now anyway.

Catherine couldn't see his face anymore because he was leaning against the wall, but he was not asleep. She wished she could say something to him that would make him feel better, but she knew there was no way she could help him because she didn't know what he was going through. She had never been kidnapped herself. But, in her defense (and the other CSI's) they had already had to deal with having someone they cared about be kidnapped. So, their situations were all different. However, their friendship and love they shared for Greg was the connector, and would therefore give them all something to talk about. However, not now.

And then, their prayers were answered: A man in a white lab coat walked out of the doors that Greg had gone into hours ago and came over to them all.

"Excuse me? Who all is here for Gregory Sanders?" He asked softly, trying not to disturb them too much, as it was well past midnight now.

But it was no bother to any of them, quite the opposite really. They all perked up and even Nick left his isolated chair to join the others before the doctor.

"I'm guessing you are all his co-workers? Crime Scene Investigators?" The doctor asked.

They exchanged kind of confused looks, but nodded back to the doctor.

"Ok then, well you should know that on his emergency records, he requested to keep you all informed of his medical conditions, so I am allowed to tell you all what's going on."

They let out a sigh of relief, but wondered when Greg had changed his emergency contact sheet. They decided to think about it later, and went back to holding their breath as the doctor spoke.

"Well, I've been informed that you all assisted on getting Mr. Sanders here in one piece, and I must say that it is a good thing that you all did, because when we got him, he probably didn't have more than five minutes left, so you can all congratulate yourselves on that one," he stopped and let them all soak in these words, knowing that it was a lot to deal with.

"And because he got here when he did, we were able to save him. Up until this point, at least. Now, I strongly believe he will stay that way, but there is always the possibility." He stopped again.

"Well, well what all's wrong. What's the main problem now?" Catherine asked quietly.

"Well, as you may have guessed, blood loss was our main concern. We successfully conducted a blood transfusion, and we're just waiting to make sure his body excepts it. That is probably our biggest concern as of now. We were able to repair the damage caused by the stab wound, but he is covered in other injuries, inside and out. You were all able to see the multiple cuts and abrasions. And bruises, but there are also some broken bones. The ribs were the most troublesome of that category because they were very close to puncturing his lungs, but we fixed that in time. Other than that, he has a broken collar bone and fractured wrist. And finally, he was dehydrated pretty bad, and slightly mal-nourished." he took a deep breath then added as he took off his glasses and looked them all in the eyes. "All-in-all, he was very lucky. I know that sounds awful given the state he is in, but with all he went through, he should have been dead. He must be a very strong fighter," he finished with an encouraging smile.

They all allowed themselves to breath again. Greg had fought. The idea made them smile themselves. Everything was ok for the moment, and none of them really thought that that would change. Greg had made it that far, and they didn't think he would lose hope now.

"So… so his chances are good," Nick asked quietly.

The doctor looked at him and was sure to add as much encouragement as he could, noting at how scared the young man, and all of them for that matter looked.

"I personally think that he will make it. It's really up to him now, and given the fact that he has held on for this long, I don't see any reason to suspect he won't make a full recovery. With time and help from all of you, of course."

They smiled with watery eyes and nodded. They were going to be there for them at every movement he needed them, and maybe even a little more knowing how Greg could be. They weren't going to let him go through this alone.

"Doctor, when do you think we can see him?" Sara asked, reasonably happier but still sleepy.

The doctor smiled, and thought about it for a minute.

"Well, he just got out of surgery, and it is way past visiting hours, so I'm afraid I cannot permitt anyone to actually go _inside_ his room," he paused and looked at their dissapointed expressions, then added with a mischevious smile. "But I don't see why you guys can't stand outside the room and look in. That is if you would like to see him."

"Thank you, Doctor"

He smiled and nodded, then led them to Greg's room.

"Now don't be alarmed when you see him. We have him in the ICU and there are a lot of tubes hooked up to him, including a ventilator. We needed the ventilator because as I mentioned earlier, his ribs were close to puncturing his lungs, so they aren't working their best right now, but it's nothing to be too worried about. Just want to warn you all before hand, because it usually looks worse than it really is."

He finally stopped at a door, and right away they could see him through the glass window.

Right away, they knew this was going to be very difficult.

* * *

Brass had been coming in and out of the hospital over the two hours, checking on the CSI's and getting any new information they had. He had seen the kid before he was sent to the hospital and it wasn't good. However, he himself had ended up at the very same hospital with a very serious gun shot wound, and yet here he was. So, if anyone could keep the kid alive, these people could.

The last time he had come into the hospital, he noticed everyone had left the waiting room. Right away he asked the lady at the front desk and she had briefed him on what was going on. After hearing that they allowed everyone to go see Greg, Brass had thought about going, remembering that Greg had been there for him when he woke up, but then changed his mind.

This was a time for the people closest to the kid, and the little glass window was going to be crowded as it is. Besides, the lady had told him that Greg wasn't expected to wake up anytime soon, so Brass figured he would make better use of his time.

He had just come from the other OR waiting room after checking on the suspect, who was still in surgery, but was also still alive. After hearing that, he was told that the man's son, Benjamin was on the first floor. So, he decided to go see if you could get any information from Ben.

So he made his way down to the first floor, and found the area where Ben was waiting. It was just one of the rooms that are seperated by curtains. Brass pulled back Ben's curtain and entered. When he walked in, he immidiately saw Ben sitting on his bed staring at nothing. There was white gaze wrapped around his head. He turned his gaze up to Brass, and he noticed that the boy had been crying.

"Hello, Benjamin Everett?" Brass asked cautiously then continued when the boy nodded. "I'm Captain Jim Brass, and I was wondering if you could give me any information on what happened tonight?"

When Brass finished asking the question, Ben kind of looked away, as if getting the courage to speak. He turned back to Brass.

"Yeah... well, I was asleep for most of the day," he said quietly and without really concentrating on what he was saying. "My uh.. my dad" he stopped at the word 'dad' and a few more tears rolled down his face. "Well, he had insisted on doing this.. and I, I didn't want to but he did it anyway. And, he started getting too violent with it so.. so we got in a fight and... well I got this," he pointed half-heartedly up to his wrapped head.

"So, I was sleeping for most of the day and.. and I don't know what happened while I was asleep because.. because he promised that he wouldn't use _those _chains unless.. unless it was an emergency and.." he stopped again and looked down.

"Well, when he woke me up, I... I knew it was all over, and.. and I got mad at him, and went to see.. Gr.. Greg and..." he bowed his head and stayed like that for a moment. Finally, he looked back up at Brass.

"I yelled at him to let Greg go, and I.. I thought he was going too, but then he just... oh God.." Brass guessed he was gettting to the part where Greg was stabbed. And though he felt some sympathy for the kid, part of him knew that Ben could have done more to help Greg out, so he urged him on.

"He told me that he wanted me to leave. Go outside to you guys. But... but I said no, because I was afriad that he only wanted me to leave so he could kill Greg. So I stayed," he scrunched up his face, more tears falling down.

"We fought about it for a moment, but then... then he just.. just stabbed him... he just stabbed him."

The pain on this boy's face was real, and even though Brass still felt slightly suspicious of him, he also couldn't think a lilttle higher of him as well.

"He told me that the longer I stayed in the house, the longer Greg was going to go without... getting any help. So... I started to leave... And then he grabbed me from behind... I had no idea what to think... But now, I think it was... so that you all would see me as... as just another prisoner.." This seemed to be the big finish to everything he had just said.

"Ben, you realize that your father shot himself, right?" Brass asked cautiously.

Ben sat in silence for a second, then looked up, his face looking completely different. It was anger.

"Is he dead?"

Brass looked at him and understood how he could be angry at his dad.

"No, actually he's just barely alive, though they don't expect him to live."

There was something like triumph on Ben's face, but it disappeared quickly.

"Look, I... I know there was more that I could have done.. to... to help Greg. And I know that I could have some criminal charges against me. But.. but I just want to apologize to.. to everyone that.. that knows him. I know how it feels to have... someone taken from you... and I know how much it hurts, especially.. if they die."

Minute by minute, Brass liked this kid more and more. He was in pain, but he was also right: he _could _have done more. But he saw no reason in making Ben feel worse than he aldready did.

"Thank you for your help Ben. And, we do have a cop watching you, just in case. But we won't know the extent of the charges, if any at all, until Greg is able to tell us what happened," as Brass said this, he secretly hoped that it would in fact happen. He had heard that they were still not entirely sure he was going to make it, but Brass decided to believe he was until something happened to give him any reason to stop believeing that.

Brass stood up, nodded his head a little saying goodbye to Ben, then left the room and started his walk to the third floor to see Greg.

* * *

**AN: **Don't you guys just love how they are all taking charge? Haha, I loved writing about Nick and Warrick ganging up on that medic. HAha, he stood no chance against them. Sorry for the lame ending. Ok so, this one is long like the others... I think its in the 4000's or over. But ya'll better not be complaining about it!! hahah ok well, the next one will be out soon, and apparently, I'm not going to be able to get this one at before we go back to school, but its ok.

Also, to everyone that reviews, I try to reply to them, but because the alert things aren't working, none of you get them.. so.. just know that I reply to most of the reviews I get. So thanks everyone:)


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: **Wow, this was one of the longest one's I've written yet. That will hopefully make up for the time between now and my last post, and it also serves as a thank you for reviewing so much, because I am now over 100 reviews! So thanks to all of you!

**Warnings: **This is actually a lot about the team. Greg does come in towards the end, but the first part of it is about the others and how they're dealing. I thought it was necessary but sorry if you would rather hear about Greg, and Greg only. I personally wouldn't mind that myself, but when you're the author of a story like this, you find that it's better to write about other things, or else you'll have a boring story. So, hope you enjoy, but sorry if you don't.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing, sadly.

Ok, read up my good chaps!

* * *

The elevator doors opened, revealing the same white scenery that Brass had been surrounded by no matter where he went in the hospital. It was like going in a circle. But he knew exactly where he wanted to be at. He walked down the hallway to where the lady at the desk had said Greg's room was. Once he turned the last corner, he saw the small group of CSI's a couple yards down the hall, huddled in front of a window.

As he got closer, he realized that they looked terribly shaken, and Catherine even had her hand over her mouth. Had something happened?

Brass got closer to them, easing his way into their view. Grissom turned to him, and Brass was able to see the stern features he had on his face. Something _had _happened.

Brass quickened his pace slightly, wanting to see what was going on in the room for himself. He looked in and saw a couple doctors and a few nurses leaned over a bed. The only part of Greg he could actually see was a noticeably discolored arm that housed an IV. Brass turned his gaze to Greg's heart monitor, and saw it going steady, but a little fast.

He turned around a shot a questioning look towards Grissom, who just shook his head implying that he wasn't really sure what was going on.

Everyone kept their eyes focused on the bed, hoping to get a glimpse of Greg, as if they expected to see him staring back at them. Finally, the doctors exchanged a few more words, then made their way out. The CSI's and Brass moved away from the door, but watched it like hawks, demanding information from the doctor the minute he stepped out of Greg's room.

"Calm down, there's nothing to worry about. There seems to be an infection setting in, which caused the fever and increased heart-rate. But, like I said, there's nothing to worry about. We caught it early, and it's nothing antibiotics and monitoring can't help." He offered them another encouraging smile, but they only looked away, exhausted.

"Why don't you guys go home a get some sleep? Visiting hours start at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning, and there's no way he's going to wake up before then."

This was true. Greg wouldn't be waking up anytime soon, and they were all exhausted; physically and mentally.

For the past week, none of them had been able to actually sleep. Their minds running wild with thoughts. Thoughts that horrified them and kept them awake and unable to focus on whatever task that they were dong at the time.

No one had come out and said it, or even allowed themselves to actually dwell on it, but they had all thought about what it would be like if Greg didn't live t some point or other. It was a horrible thought. Sure, Greg had his times when he could be annoying, but he was never bitter. He never got a really bad attitude that they could think of, which was more than they could say for themselves. They had all lost their temper at some point or other, but Greg had always managed to stay in control. And right now, his annoying traits would be more than welcome.

"He's right. There's no point in standing in front of this window. Go home and get some sleep everyone, and tomorrow, or I guess it's technically today," Grissom said glancing down at his watch, "you can all come back and visit him. Day shift can handle the work for a day."

They all nodded, but looked once more towards Greg. The nurses had moved out of the way, but they still couldn't get a good look at him die to the mounds of white sheets and blankets, and tubes covering him. They silently told him goodnight and goodbye before slowly walking towards the exit of the hospital.

* * *

Nick had finally made it home. He had been practically living at the lab, even more-so than ever, which was saying something. He wearily walked to his door, unlocked it, and stumbled into the empty apartment. He briefly took in the sight of the dust collecting on his countertops and shelves. Noticed the dirty dishes in the sink that had been sitting there for about a week now. He glanced over at the TV, which was on. He half-heartedly grunted in disapproval; all those hours of TV he didn't even watch would be added to his bill.

He sighed, wishing deep down he had something else to come 'home' to. Or someone. He shook his head and finally shut the door behind him. He immediately started off towards his room, dropping the keys off on the counter and not looking back when he heard them fall to the floor.

He was beyond exhausted and relished the time when he could lay down and actually get a good sleep. Real sleep that was not poisoned with images of a beaten Greg, a dead Greg, a trapped Nick, and dead Nick.

The few times he had been able to slip into an uneasy sleep, his wondering mind seemed to search for all of his fears and worst memories, and replay them over and over until he finally gave in and woke up.

However, the inviting bed would have to wait. Right now he needed a shower. He felt contaminated, knowing that he still had Greg's blood on him. He had feverishly tried to wash it off in the hospital bathroom, but gave up after a while.

He couldn't decide exactly why Greg's blood made him feel so filthy. He just knew it felt wrong.

As he turned on the shower and let the stream fill the room, he thought more about this. It was probably because he knew that Greg was not completely out of the woods yet, and having his blood on him only made it more apparent that Greg was still in bad shape.

He decided to drop the matter, fearing it could lead somewhere he didn't want it to go.

The shower was quick, and rather enjoyable given the circumstances. He got out and dried off, then threw on some pj pants and collapsed on the bed. Within minutes he slipped into a deep sleep. His dreams were polluted here and there with unwanted sights, but the simple fact remained: he was able to sleep fairly peacefully for the first time in a long time.

* * *

Catherine quietly crept through her door, hoping she wouldn't wake Lindsay. She wasn't even sure if her daughter was home though, because she had mentioned something about going over to a friend's house.

_I've been more preoccupied with Greg than I have with my own daughter_, Catherine thought to herself. She tried to reason with herself, saying that Greg had been kidnapped and possibly dying and everything, and she had taken care of Lindsay whenever she got the chance during this whole ordeal.

Partly satisfied with herself, she began to creep down the hall to her room, where she planned on taking a shower first.

"Mom?" A small, tired voice came from behind her.

Catherine turned around to face her daughter. God, she grew up so fast. She had apparently been asleep, as her eyes were squinted and her make-up smudged.

"Hey baby, I thought you were going Amelia's house," Catherine said, partly whispering.

Lindsay shrugged. "I did, but on the news it said that the missing CSI was found, and I wanted to know what happened."

Catherine nodded solemnly, hoping to just drop the subject then make her way to bed. But no such luck.

"So… how is Greg?" Lindsay asked, slightly irritated. When Catherine hesitated on answering, Lindsay's face turned grim. "He's not…"

"No, No!" Catherine blurted out. "He's not dead. He's at the hospital and… he had surgery and now we just wait."

Lindsay calmed down, but didn't seem satisfied with her mother's answer.

"So... what? I mean, what all's wrong with him? Or how did you find him?" Catherine knew that Lindsay would be interested in Greg's condition and everything. Once, when Lindsay was little, Catherine had taken her into the lab and had lost her, but she ended up finding her in the layout room playing video games with Greg. Ever since then, she had always been attached to him.

Actually, in the last few months, Catherine had noticed a change in Lindsay's behavior towards Greg. Almost like she was attracted to him.

Catherine smiled at the thought.

"Well… I'm not really sure about anything right now. He's ok at the moment, and we're allowed to see him in the morning. Would you like to come?" Catherine asked, not realizing what she had said until after she had said it.

She wasn't completely against Lindsay going, but then again, Greg didn't look so good, and she wasn't sure how Lindsay would take it.

Lindsay seemed to have thought about it for a minute, but ended up nodding.

"Yeah, I'd like to see him."

Catherine decided not to argue about it now. In the morning, she would warn her daughter about the way he looked and the ventilator and tubes and everything, but now she just wanted to get cleaned up, then go to sleep.

"Ok then, go back to bed. Visiting hours start at 8," Catherine said, pulling Lindsay's head closer to plant a kiss on her forehead.

With that, the two closed their bedroom doors, and got ready for bed.

* * *

Grissom was the first one up at the hospital the next morning. Like most nights, he hadn't been able to sleep well. He actually arrived at the hospital around 7:30, and spent the remaining thirty minutes exploring the hospital and looking at their little shops.

He wanted to see Greg. Ever since he had talked to him on the phone a couple days ago, he had wanted nothing more than to talk to him again. To have Greg throwing out excited words, bouncing around about silly little things. He missed that Greg more than anything else.

He continued to walk around the hospital, until it was five-till eight. He made his way back up to the fourth floor, where Greg was now being kept in the Intensive Care Unit, and thought it best to sit in one of the waiting chairs for a few more minutes before trying to enter Greg's room.

A minute or two later, Grissom looked up and was greeted by Nick coming out of the elevator. He looked tired, his eyes red. He had a stiffened walk and a set jaw-line.

Grissom found this disheartening. Greg was clearly not the only member of his team he would have to worry about. Nick had been a worrisome factor since day one of Greg's kidnapping, that much was obvious to everyone. It had been hard for all them, but Nick had made his emotions clearer than anyone else had. Grissom knew that that was just Nick being his caring, sensitive self, but it also had a lot to do with everything he had been through himself.

Nick caught Grissom's eye, and he seemed to lessen his previous stiffness and offered Grissom a smile and nod. He made his way over to Grissom and took a seat next to him.

"You're here early," he said casually to Grissom.

Grissom just looked into his eyes, seeing that he was hurting.

"You wanna talk?" Grissom asked, getting straight to the point.

Nick was taken aback by his sudden boldness. Had he not been so upset, he would have found Grissom's avoidance of beating around the bush to be funny. But, the truth was, he _did _have some things that he _should _talk to someone about, but he just didn't know if he wanted to.

Nick turned away from Grissom's all-seeing eyes, feeling like he was being analyzed by the king of analyzing himself. Despite a part of him warning him not to open his mouth, Nick spoke up.

"I don't know. It's just… wrong. I mean, me and Greg were both kidnapped, and yet we both went through completely different things. And… and I don't know… he's a lot worse off then I was when I was found…"

There it was, the guilt that he had been feeling. Greg had definitely gotten the short end of the stick on this one. When Nick was found, he only spent about a day in the hospital, and it was only for the bites and a few other things they just wanted to check on. Greg was dying when he was brought in, and was in the ICU now. How could they have gotten so different treatments?

Grissom shook his head.

"Nick, you're not looking at the big picture here," Grissom said, looking out and down the long white corridor, now getting slightly busier as the nurses prepared for their patient's family and friends to start arriving. "You know as well as I do that there is more than one kind of pain."

Grissom changed his attention to Nick, as he briefly looked up into Grissom's eyes. But he quickly looked back down at his feet.

"There is absolutely no need for you to feel guilty in the least. Now, I'm not saying that either one of you were luckier when it came to what you all went through. And technically, we're not completely sure of what all Greg went through, but the point is, both of you went through horrible things, but they were very different. And their effects on the both of you will also be very different."

"Now, I'm afraid I can't say how Greg will react to all of this, but I have a feeling he will cope pretty well. Sure, he will be haunted with nightmares and pain for a while, but eventually, those wounds will heal. You, on the other hand, relive what you went through, what, daily? Weekly?" At this question, Nick looked up again, this time his eyes watery.

"You think I don't notice? You think _we _don't notice? Nick," he paused and looked Nick square in the eyes, "you encountered some of the worst pain a person can receive, and yet no visible scars remain. Your damage was done on the inside. Now Greg, his was mainly done on the outside, however I'm sure he went through… some unimaginable things. Just don't get wrapped up in this Nick. You know that we are all here for you, just like we will all be there for Greg."

Tears fell down Nick's cheeks. He felt like a young child, but everything that Grissom had just said effected him. He _had _been having nightmares about what happened to him many nights. Sometimes, like the previous night, he had just decided not to sleep at all.

"Well, we are officially allowed to visit him now," Grissom said, standing up.

Nick remained sitting for a moment, then wiped his eyes are stood facing Grissom. Without knowing why, he suddenly wrapped his arms around Grissom, in a warm embrace.

He had been needing this for a while now.

* * *

Sara had gotten up around 7:30, feeling rather refreshed. It had been a while since she had been able to sleep well, so this nice little break from reality was definitely welcomed. In fact, if Greg had not been in the hospital, she would have gladly slept longer, but something made her want to get up, something made it impossible to sleep any longer.

So, she rolled out of bed and conducted her normal morning routine, skipping the thirty-minute hair and make-up segment, cutting it down to a 15-minute task. It was already nearing 8 o'clock, and she wanted to get there as soon as possible. Besides, she didn't think that Greg or any of her other co-workers would mind it her hair and make-up weren't quite up to the same level they usually were.

Finally, she grabbed a breakfast bar on her way out, telling herself she would get a real breakfast a little later. As she locked up her apartment, she praised the invention of the breakfast bar. Non-perishable, hardly fattening, and usually very delicious.

She got in her car in within twenty minutes, she was pulling into the hospital parking garage, the time now about 8:30. Not too bad, she thought to herself.

As she walked through the hospital, she started to think about Greg and what he may look like. She hadn't been able to get a good view of what he looked like after all the surgery and everything the doctors had done for him. She had, however seen him right after they found him and had also been in the back trying to keep him alive along with Catherine and the EMT. Whatever he looked like now couldn't possibly be any worse than what he looked like then. Actually, not that she thought about it, she had seen him in very bad condition three times now.

She had been the only one to actually witness him being thrown out of the lab, and through the glass window when the lab exploded. She had also been the one to see him lose consciousness. And then, she was the one to see him a couple months ago after he was attacked by the gang.

That had been one of the hardest things she had ever done. Especially when she had first walked up there and saw him lying there with no one working on him. Her first thought had been, _he' dead. _And the same thought ran through her head last night when she saw him hanging by his wrists, dripping blood from all over the place.

Her stomach shuddered involuntarily at the memory of seeing him like that, and she was now wishing she hadn't eaten the breakfast bar.

She was now in the elevator, passing the second floor. Then, at the third floor, the elevator dinged, and the doors opened. When the doors had completely opened, she saw Catherine, Warrick, and Lindsay.

"Did you know he was moved up to the fourth floor," Catherine asked, stepping into the elevator, Warrick and Lindsay following.

"Yeah, Grissom sent a text this morning. You didn't get one?"

Catherine and Warrick both simultaneously got out their phones and opened them. They both nodded and said "oh".

Sara just smiled at them.

"So you haven't heard anything else," Warrick asked Sara.

Sara shook her head. "Nope. But no news in good news."

Everyone agreed and the elevator doors closed.

"So Lindsay, how have you been doing?"

Sara hadn't seen Lindsay since she was kidnapped about six months ago. Lindsay smiled to Sara.

"Pretty good. You?"

Sara just nodded to answer her question due to the fact that they had reached the fourth floor. The doors opened and they all piled out of the elevator and asked the lady at the desk which room Greg was in. And soon enough, they were heading down another white corridor. They were almost there when they passed a small room where the patient's family and friends could get coffee and little snacks.

Inside, they saw Grissom making himself some coffee. They stopped, and Warrick knocked lightly on the door frame. Grissom looked up at the bunch, and smiled after seeing Lindsay.

"Lindsay, very nice to see you." He looked up to the others. "His room is right around the corner. Nick's in there already, and he hasn't woke up yet."

They nodded and waited just a few more moments.

"You guys want some coffee? It's not great, but it's also not as bad as the lab's."

Warrick agreed to get some, and once he was done, they all made their way to Greg's room. Quietly, Grissom opened the door, catching Nick's attention. He had been watching the tv in Greg's room when they came in, and he turned to greet them. Sara made a mental note of how much better he looked. True, none them had looked real good last night, but Nick had been very melancholy the whole week. Now, he was smiling genuinely.

Sara changed her focus to Greg. He was lying in his bed, looking extremely pale. He still had multitudes of tubes protruding from his limp body, and that hideous looking ventilator coming out of his mouth. That was probably the worst part about the way he looked. Now that he wasn't covered in blood, all of his cuts and bruises were very visible.

He looked different than when he had been beaten up. In that case, he had mainly been covered in bruises, now he was more cuts then anything else. She decided that he _looked _better than he did after he was attacked by that gang. At least his face did. She knew that the rest of his body, now hidden by the hospital gowns and blankets was a different story.

The big difference between then and now, was the fact that he was in a much more serious condition. In fact, after only hours in the hospital last time, he had been awake and able to talk.

After a second or two of taking in the sight, Sara made her way over to a chair next to Greg's bed.

It hadn't taken Warrick long to get the initial shock of Greg's appearance down, and find his own chair. Catherine and Lindsay took the longest out of all of them. They just stood there for about three minutes, looking at him.

Catherine had known him for so long, and had watched him grow up so much. It was safe to say that out of all of the team members, she saw Greg as more of her child then anything else. They all held a certain position in her heart, but Greg had always been like her child. It probably had to do with him being so young, and she was able to take part in teaching him. It was hard to see him like that, so pale and vulnerable looking, but soon she remembered Lindsay standing next to her. She looked down at her daughter.

Lindsay was not exactly shocked, and she didn't look sick or anything. She was just kind of staring at him, almost as if she was scared at him. It was a very peculiar look, but soon, she seemed to get past it and they both joined the others in sitting.

Some of them took turns looking at the tv, then back at Greg. Sometimes, one of them would leave to use the restroom, or get more coffee or food. Then, at one point, they had all engaged in small, pointless little conversations, catching up on each other's life. It was shocking when they realized how out-of-touch they were with each other's current lives.

The adults continued to talk, laughing out loud here and there, but Lindsay generally kept her eyes glued on Greg. She watch his stomach rise and fall, and studied him for any sign of movement or life. But nothing came.

The truth was, she really cared for him, like she did the entire team. They had all been there since before she could remember, and had basically grown up with them. She remembered always enjoying coming to the lab to see them, but Greg was always on the top of her list because he was always so much fun. He always had some crazy music going, and was hyper and full of energy and life. And lately, she had realized how good-looking he was too. She knew that nothing would ever go past that, but he was still really cute and funny.

She remembered her mom saying something about him getting beat up pretty bad a couple of months ago, but she didn't hear anything else about it other than he was doing ok. And then once, not so long ago, she had been at her friend's house when she saw the coverage on his inquiry about the boy he killed.

She remembered how upset he had looked, and had told her friend to leave it on the channel. They had spent the next half-hour watching it, and listening to the mother and brother of the kid go on about how evil Greg was. She remembered being so mad at them, knowing that Greg would never voluntarily do anything like that.

But that was all over now, and a new problem existed. She didn't want to join in or even really

listen to what her mom and the others were saying. She was too lost in thought.

Then something caught her eye. She could have sworn she saw Greg's hand twitch. Her heart sped up, and her eyes stayed glued on his hand, but eventually she started going from his hand to his eyes, hoping to see him wake up.

Then, she noticed his hand move again, only this time his fingers slowly closed and finally, his eyes eased open.

* * *

He had been feeling very odd for a while now. He felt numb and extremely heavy. He had been trying to convince his body parts to move some, to prove to him that he was still alive, but they stubborn limbs wouldn't budge.

He tried to search his brain for any information that would help him discover where he was and why he was there. But his thoughts just seem to reach dead ends and he eventually gave up on it.

He was sue there were other people wherever he was because he could hear them speaking. They were all faded and distant and he could make out what they were saying, but they were there none-the-less.

For a while he laid there, thinking about random thoughts that circulated through his head. None of them made sense, and if he as asked to recall them, he wouldn't have been able to.

Time seemed to float by so slowly. Gradually, he began to feel things. He felt small twinges in some places, like his stomach and head and was eventually able to guess that he was in some way or other, hurt of injured. If that was true, then there was a good chance he was in a hospital.

That guess was confirmed minutes later when a steady beeping sound filled his head. So he was in a hospital. The voices he had been hearing earlier where clearer, but he still didn't know what they were saying. He did know, however, that there were quite a few of them.

And slowly, everything began to register more. The voices, the feelings, and why he was here. Not all the details were clear, but he remembered being kidnapped, and a video camera, and a boy that had tried to help him. And then, he woke up completely.

His eyes still hadn't opened, but he was now well-aware of what was going on around him.

"_You never said anything about her…_" He heard someone say in a joking fashion. That had to have been Sara.

"_Yeah well, it all happened so fast…" _And there was Warrick.

He heard all the others talking regularly about silly little things. He wished he could be a part of it, and not laying here unable to move. So, he mentally went over himself. He was still numb, which meant he was on a lot of drugs. The most obvious feeling he had though, was the feeling of something being down his throat. And he didn't like it at all. Right away, he was able to guess he was on a ventilator. For a second, he panicked, but he calmed down and decided to focus his efforts back on moving.

He continued to try and get his hand to move. And finally, it worked. It was just a twitch really, but it was something. And then, he found he was able to move his whole hand.

Making definite progress he thought to himself. And finally, he made the largest effort he possibly could in opening his eyes. It took a while, but was soon greeted with a sensation of bright lights. He blinked a couple of times, and the room came into sharper focus.

He looked around briefly, seeing that everyone was there and talking wildly and laughing. It made him feel good to see them in so good a mood. But it was apparent that they hadn't noticed that it had woken up.

But he looked around a little more, and saw two big blues eyes staring at him, looking kind of scared and worried. Lindsay.

Her expression made him feel odd, like he was hideous looking. He wanted to smile at her, to assure her that he was fine, but couldn't due to the tube down his throat. Instead, he worked up some energy, and lifted his hand, his raw wrists making themselves present, and wiggled his fingers slowly.

He felt better when he saw a small smile spread across Lindsay's face. Greg looked around at the others to see if they had noticed yet, but saw them all still deep in conversation. Lindsay followed his lead and briefly glanced at the others, then looked back at Greg with a questioning look. He knew she was wondering what to do next.

He looked at her, then rolled his eyes playfully. The motion had further hurt his head, but it was worth it when he saw Lindsay let out a small giggle.

It was only then that everyone turned their attention to her, then followed her gaze over to Greg. Their faces were momentarily shocked, but soon they lit up. Greg repeated his previous motion and lifted his hand to feebly wiggle his fingers in an effort to wave at them. Their smiles widened and most of them waved back.

He was finally awake.

* * *

**AN: **So there it was. Probably only one more chapter after this one. Will be up eventually. Anyways, I've been so angry lately because I bought a movie off of eBay, and the people said that they send it within two days and its now been over four days so.. I'm angry. The movie I got is called Chaplin. Its about Charlie Chaplin's life, but Chaplin is played by Robert Downy Jr. who is absolutely amazing!! I definitely suggest it if you are into theatre and mining. Or of you like RDJ or just really good movies. UGH!! I want it now!! Ok, enough pointless rambling. You guys know the drill 


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: **Took forever, I know. Sorry peoples. Life gets in the way and I've discovered that once you get to these parts, it gets really hard to continue so.. Sorry everyone. Here it is:

* * *

Sara was beyond words right now. She had been wanting to have Greg back, have him wake up and everything, but a part of her had been worried about it too. She was a most nervous about how Greg would be when he woke up. There was no doubt about it, he went through a lot and it would have been totally understandable if he took everything hard and started freaking out or something. 

But the fact that he was… waving and acting pretty normal given the circumstances made her heart swell and brought tears to her eyes. She quickly tried to suppress them, not wanting Greg, or the others to see her crying.

Everyone stood for a moment, smiling widely at Greg. He started feeling weird again. He was happy that they looked so relieved, but them staring at him like that was making him feel very odd. On top of all that, his energy was winding down considerably and he could feel himself getting more and more tired by the second. His eyes started to droop more, and the last thing he wanted was to go to sleep with them all staring at him like that.

He broke his eyes contact with them and looked up at the ceiling. This seemed to wake them up from their trance. Nick came forward so that he was at Greg's immediate bedside. He smiled down at him.

"Hey G. You scared us."

Greg gave the best half-shrug he could, but they seemed to get the point he was trying to make. It was all about trying the lighten the mood.

They continued to smile down at him.

He looked up again, and decided to get this show going. He closed his eyes, worked up the very last bit of strength he could find, and managed to move his hand onto his stomach. From there, he worked his way up his chest until his hand was close enough to his mouth to make his point.

He took his hand, now resting on his chest, and slowly pointed his index finger up towards face, trying to indicate the tube down his throat, but the drowsiness was making the task unbearably difficult.

The others looked confused, and tried to guess what it was that he wanted. Greg would have laughed if he could after seeing his friends act like they were playing charades.

"You want some water," Catherine offered.

Greg shook his head and continued to point though his finger was growing more and more limp.

"Something else hurts," Nick said with a worried tone.

He rolled his eyes again and looked down at Lindsay.

"Um, I think he just wants the tube out.." she said, stating the obvious in Greg's opinion. The others turned to Greg and asked him if that was in fact what he wanted, and he nodded enough to tell them 'yes'.

Greg marveled at how clear-headed children could be sometimes in comparison to adults.

"Ohh… "

"Yeah, weren't we supposed to call the doctor when he woke up," Warrick asked suddenly.

"Oh!" Catherine blurted out, and ran over to the little white button to call the nurse.

If he could, he would have smiled at their behavior. Yeah, it was a bit annoying, but was none-the-less cute. He had been longing to see them all for what seemed like ever, and here they were, tripping over themselves and acting all funny at the sight of him awake.

But honestly, should he expect anything else? They _had _seen him at some of the very worst parts of the entire experience, and had seen him when he was found, which he knew was not a pretty sight.

He then decided that their behavior was more than tolerable, and with the lack of energy to do anything else, he closed his eyes and relaxed.

"Mr. Sanders?" Greg heard someone with an unfamiliar male voice.

Greg opened his eyes and looked at the man. He looked like most doctors in his opinion.

"It's very nice to see you awake," the doctor smiled and then continued on. "I'm Dr. Morgan and I'm guessing you would like that tube out?"

He said all of this as he was checking the machines and his charts. When he looked back at Greg, Greg nodded.

"Ok, it won't be comfortable for a while and you won't be able to talk at first, but we'll get you some ice. Ok, on the count of three, I want you to blow out really hard, ok?"

Greg nodded but felt his stomach tightened. He had seen this on tv and remembered how uncomfortable this process seemed to the patients on the screen.

"One… two…three"

Greg used all of his might to blow out, and felt the tube sliding through his throat. He wanted so badly to gag and cough, to get it out. But found he couldn't.

It seemed to take forever and Greg wondered just how long this tube actually was.

Finally, the tube was out and he was having a hard time breathing. He coughed and gasped for air, now that it wasn't automatically provided for him.

"Deep breaths Mr. Sanders."

_Stupid doctor, that was easy for him to say._

Greg continued to struggle to get back to normal breathing, but eventually it all became much easier and he was able to open his eyes and focus on the people standing around him.

But he couldn't help but wonder if it was really better this way. They all had a horrified look on their faces.

He smiled at them, which seemed to help a little, but his throat was aching so badly now. Ice sounded pretty good, but honestly he felt against putting anything in his mouth.

"Alright, Mr. Sanders, everything looks pretty good for right now, but we'll keep an eye on you," he turned from Greg to the others. "I'm going to give you another hour in here, but then you'll have to leave for a little while so he can get some rest, ok?"

They nodded and watched him begin to leave.

Right before he left, he turned around to address Greg again.

"I'll have a nurse bring you that ice, ok?"

Greg nodded again, and when he left everyone's attention went back to Greg.

He wanted answers, it was plain and simple. He did deserve to know what all happened. He didn't really remember anything at all that happened right at the end. He seemed to remember seeing the team coming into his room, but he wasn't sure if that was just a dream.

He knew he wasn't supposed to be talking, but oh well. He wanted to know.

He worked up some energy that was running out at an alarming rate; he wouldn't be able to keep himself awake for much longer.

He tried so hard to say "What happened", but nothing came out. Instead, his raw throat wrenched in pain.

However, his attempt was not completely in vain. They knew what he had said because they were exchanging nervous glances to each other.

Nick was apparently elected to give Greg the news because he took a deep breath and began to talk in a hushed tone.

"You were… kidnapped and… we, we got videos and…"

Greg smiled and rolled his eyes, causing everyone to stop and look at him as though he was crazy. The fact that he was smiling about being kidnapped was a very good reason to worry.

Greg shook his head.

"No," he tried to say. "What… happened… to… Ben and… Don? At the end…" He was really just mouthing these words, but a small whisper came as well.

He felt bad that his smiling made them so worried, but he remembered what happened to him up until the part where he was found.

This information eventually registered, and they seemed to breath easier now, which, in turn made Greg feel more comfortable as well.

"Well, Ben was brought out by the kidnapper, I mean Don," Nick started.

"Then Don went back in side and we heard a shot. He uh.. Shot himself," Sara finished.

Greg grimaced. He wasn't sure why this bothered him, but it did. He would never think that what the man did to him was in any way justifiable, but on the other hand, he had suffered a great loss.

"Dead?" He choked out.

"He's in surgery. They don't expect him to make it," Grissom answered, sounding a lot like when he had told Greg about Demetrius James' condition.

Greg nodded and remained quiet. Just looking at the different people in his room.

"And Ben?"

"He was fine when he came out of the house, just a concussion I think."

Just then, there was movement at the door and everyone turned to see Brass enter the room. He looked back at them, then to Greg and smiled after the initial shock of seeing the young man awake wore off.

"Hey Sanders, glad to see you awake."

Greg just smiled and nodded, now too tired and hurting to say anything.

"Where have you been?" Catherine asked, everyone's attention on him, of which Greg was happy about.

"Talking to the kid. Benjamin, I believe. He's ok," he added at Greg's questioning look.

"Well.. Is he going to jail or what?" Nick asked, sounding a little annoyed.

Brass made a face, as though he was wondering what to say next.

"I don't know about that, it really has a lot to do with what Greg has to say." Brass finished, looking a Greg again.

Everyone returned their focus to Greg.

Greg thought about it. It did make sense that a lot of what would happen to Ben depended on him. Ben was guilty in a way, but on the other hand, he wasn't a killer or anything close to it. Just a kid pushed into something by a man he was supposed to be able to consider a father.

Without thinking much more about it, Greg answered their questioning looks:

"He's a good kid," he said simply. "Just… lost."

Brass nodded.

"I thought so too, but he still might face some charges. He didn't call the police or anything."

Greg nodded.

"I know. But.. He helped me.. A lot." He was finding it much easier to talk now, but he was wanting those darn ice chips.

"So what happens now, Jim?" Grissom finally spoke up.

Brass shrugged.

"We keep him under surveillance until we can get an official statement from Greg… then its all up to the judge and the jury."

Everyone nodded.

"As for Don, he probably won't make it to that point."

"That's a shame. His son will have to pay more for something he did," Warrick said, shaking his head.

Sara nodded in agreement. She looked back over to Greg and noticed that his eyelids were staying closed longer when he blinked. He noticed her looking and smiled at her.

She smiled back and felt more tears. How was he still able to smile?

She turned away from his tired eyes, feeling embarrassed.

The nurse came in shortly afterwards with his ice, and after a few minutes of him chewing on it, he was asleep again.

They were asked to leave by the doctor and told they could come back in about two hours, and they knew they would take him up on that offer.

It was lunchtime now, and because they all wanted to go back to see him again, they decided to eat together at a small restaurant down the street from the hospital.

"Can you believe how good he's handling it?" Sara said, while taking a bite of her veggie-burger.

Nick and Warrick shook their heads.

"It's amazing. I know I would be freaking out or something," Nick replied, thinking back to how he felt when he was safe and in the hospital after his attack. No, he hadn't freaked out, but he was definitely in no state to smile and wave to everyone.

"Well, everyone handles things differently," Grissom said knowingly. "And just because he's _acting _fine doesn't mean he _is_ fine," he added at the look on Nick's face.

"Yeah, we'll just have to be there for him. He could be hiding a lot of his feelings." Catherine added, passing the ketchup to Lindsay.

"Yeah, he is pretty good at hiding things."

"Well, I don't think being there for him will be an issue," Warrick said, taking a sip of his Pepsi.

That summed everything up pretty well, they all thought and spent the rest of the meal talking about a lot of different things, Greg included.

Lindsay didn't say much though, she just wanted to hurry up and get back to Greg. She didn't know what it was exactly, but she just wanted to be there with him.

She knew that it was possible he was hiding his true feelings about what had happened, but she hoped that wasn't the case. Not because she wanted to think of him as this amazingly strong guy, but because that only meant more suffering for him, and he had been through quite enough in her opinion.

She remained quiet and picked at her chicken.

If only time would pass quicker. Just for a little while so that she could go back and see him again...

* * *

**AN:** Ok, so it looks like there might be one more chapter after all. But that will definitely be it because you can only drag stuff like this out for so long. I actually wanted to end it with this chapter, but it didn't work out that way so.. Oh well. Hopefully I will get the last one out eventually, but if you want some excuses, go read the end note on the 5th chapter of my other fic, Snowbound. And I have no idea what's going on with Lindsay and her feelings, but its just whats coming out, so we'll see. Until later my friends! 


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: **Tada! The last chapter! I know you are all excited about this (haha) but I must admit that it sucks. I know this, and I also know that it's the best I could do so.. Whatever. If you don't want to read it, that's cool cuz it really does suck.

But the fact that I actually got it out is amazing because tomorrow is the **_only _**day this week I have not had rehearsal on top of loads of homework. And next Sunday will be the only day next week I won't be doing something for the play. Because it opens next week (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) but there are going to be some freakin late rehearsals Tuesday and Wednesday. UGH. I'm going to be so tired.

Oh well. Just read. If you want.

* * *

His eyes opened rather suddenly. It didn't take too long to discover where he was and why he was there. There had been the initial confusion and shock, but it faded quickly. He looked around and noticed that he was in his room alone.

Part of him was happy about this.

It wasn't that he didn't want the others in there, because he did, but he didn't want to be asleep with them in there.

He despised the feeling that people were worried about him. It sounded wrong, he knew that, but he had never liked to feel helpless, or have people concerned over him. It just never felt right.

And if they were all in there, him being asleep with all that white gauze and him being all pale and bruised and cut up, not being able to joke around, he could picture them staring down at him with those looks, and he couldn't stand that.

If he was awake, he could at least act as normal as possible.

So for that reason, he was very glad that he had woken up before they came back.

He laid there for a little while, going over his aches and pains, which were slowly coming back now. He knew that he could call in the doctor and get more morphine, but he didn't want that. At least not now. If it got too bad, then sure, but otherwise, he didn't want any drugs in his body.

Time kept passing by and he was getting terribly bored.

He looked down and saw that his feet were uncovered and started to wiggle his toes. He occupied himself with his feet for a little while until his fun was interrupter by a small knock on the wall next to his open door.

He looked over to it and saw Lindsay standing in the doorway, looking at him expectantly. He thought that he would see some of the others with her, but they apparently weren't there.

He smiled warmly to her.

"You gunna just stand there?" The first word was a little rough, but it was much easier to speak now. Pretty much normal.

Lindsay let loose a smile then walked in slowly. She seemed slightly uncomfortable, but Greg knew it was sort of expected.

Actually, when it came down to it, he was glad is was just Lindsay. She had been the only one to keep her head when he first woke up, and best of all, she hadn't seen the tapes of him being beaten and tortured like the others had. She hadn't seen him suffer, which made it much more comfortable for the both of them.

Of course it was hard for the others to see him after watching him go through so much and endure so much pain, but it was also hard for him because they had seen him at some of his very worst times. So the fact that Lindsay hadn't made everything that much better.

"How you doing?" Greg asked as Lindsay took a seat next to his bed.

She looked at him with a confused expression.

"Aren't I suppose to ask _you _that?"

"Doesn't matter," Greg said simply. "I asked you first."

Lindsay smiled looking a little embarrassed this time, almost like a little girl.

"Well.. Ok. I'm pretty good. Now you."

" Well I'm _very _good," he answered playfully.

Lindsay smiled and nodded and looked away. Greg did not like the silence.

"What new movies are out?"

Lindsay gave him a very awkward look. It had a hint or worry in it, though Greg couldn't figure out why. He had always liked going to the theater, but ever since he started working in the field, he had lost track of what came out.

"You uh, you sure you're ok?"

Greg laughed. Of course. That was a pretty random thing to say and he could understand why she might think he wasn't all there.

"Yes, I'm fine. I just haven't seen any movies in a while. You know this job takes up so much time."

Lindsay's face loosened, both of them feeling better.

"Oh," she laughed nervously. "I don't really know, there's one with Ashton Kutcher I was wanting to see"

"Oh really. He's pretty funny. But I'm sure you think he's hot.."

Lindsay smiled, but shook her head.

"So, where is everyone?"

"Oh, they're down stairs talking. You want them?' She asked and started to get up. But Greg stopped her.

"Nah. They just make me nervous.'

Lindsay sat back down and cast him another questioning look.

"Nervous?"

Greg smiled.

"Yeah." He tried to move because he was sick of the one position he was in, but decided immediately that that was a bad idea. "I don't know. It feels weird with everyone so stiff and looking at you like your some freak. I mean, I know they mean well but.. I don't know."

It was then that Lindsay dropped all of her uneasiness and seemed to become real. Like Greg was just another one of her best friends that she could say absolutely anything to and not feel bad about it at all.

"I know exactly what you mean. Like, when I was… you know, everyone kept asking me over and over if I was ok. And then the same thing when my… my Dad died. I don't know. I mean, it just got annoying. I didn't like it."

Greg smile and felt really pleased that it was Lindsay that had come to his room.

"Oh, that's right. Looks like we have quite a bit in common then, huh?"

Lindsay smiled again.

"Yeah, I guess so."

Not too much was said after that. They didn't feel like there was much more that needed to be said. Instead, the tv came on and they watched _The Simpson's, _and didn't have a care in the world.

They sat like that for a while until Brass came in.

"Hey Greg. You up to that statement, or…"

"No. Now's fine."

Lindsay got up pretty quickly, waved to Greg then left. He would have told her that she could stay, but the truth was, he didn't want her to hear all of it. Heck, he didn't want Brass to either, but he couldn't escape that even if he wanted to so it didn't matter.

"Well," Brass said as he took Lindsay's seat and turned the tv off, "how are you doing, first of all."

"I'm pretty good, how about you?"

Brass smiled.

"I'm good Sanders. Why don't you start from the beginning."

Greg shrugged.

"I was in the bathroom. Don came in there and acted like a victim or a family member. Asked some questions about the lab and then but a gun to my head and told me to walk out of th e building quietly when he found out I was a CSI."

Brass nodded, but didn't look up from his notepad.

"Put me in the back of his car, and tried to knock me out with chloroform, but that didn't work out too well."

Brass looked up this time.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I knew what it was so I didn't breath and just pretended to pass out," he said simply, then continued. "Anyway, he took me to that house, I saw Ben. He didn't do anything to me. Um…"

Greg was amazed at how simple it was to talk about it all. Well, it was simple exactly, but he wasn't getting emotional or anything, he just wanted to get it over with once and for all.

"Well, honestly, you guys saw most of it. So, I'll skip those parts and just tell you what wasn't on the camera, ok?"

Brass nodded.

"Well, after the first… video, Don gave Ben the key to unlock one of my hands and then.. Ben, uh. He helped me eat and, you know like, wiped off some blood and stuff."

So here was the hard part. It definitely was not as easy to talk about anymore. Brass seemed to notice because he was looking up from his notes more with what seemed like his best attempt at a comforting look. Greg couldn't help but smile.

"He fed me a couple times. Gave me water. He even stood up to his dead and tried to get him to stop.. The videos, but Don freaked out and threw him against the wall and knocked him out…"

"Basically, he did about everything he could except call anyone, so I don't really know what that means but…" Greg just trailed off there.

Brass finished writing, then looked up.

"I don't really either. Donald Everett officially died about an hour ago, and Benjamin isn't a minor. He did help you out some, but I don't think it will be enough to keep him out of jail. But that's up to the jury."

Greg nodded sadly. So many lives were messed up now, one completely gone. And all because someone he cared about was taken away from him. Ben, a good kid just a little lost, had lost both of his parents and was probably going to go to jail.

Greg was definitely going to testify and do what he could, but he still figured Ben would go to jail.

Brass did his best to consol Greg, then left to tell the others they could come in.

And when they did, Greg was overwhelmingly pleased, though he didn't show it too much. He just laid there and watched everyone joke around, and knew that no matter what, as long as he had them, nothing was hopeless or completely horrible.

They had become his family and nothing could ever change that. They would always be there for him, and he would likewise be there for them.

And after the last few days of feeling virtually helpless, he saw in them an unmistakable truth: as long as they were with him, he would never be completely powerless.

* * *

**AN: **Man, that was corny. I've decided I'm crap at ending fics, which might be why I have trouble finishing them. I don't really know, but I know this sucked and you can say so if you want. But leave some reviews because its over and I need like.. Some farewell reviews! Haha, thanks everyone!

Loren (cause.A.scene)

Over and Out


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